This paper presents a history and policy analysis of Bill C-53, Canadian legislation designed to reform laws on sexual activity.
Legislative history is traced from the bill's origins in the feminist movement and the Law Reform Commission to its denouement in the House of Commons. A clause-by-clause analysis of the changes and their rationales chronicles the abolishment of rape as an offense and the substitution of varying degrees of sexual assault, revision of public morality offenses (buggery, bestiality, gross indecency), and revised provisions on prostitution, child pornography, and child abduction. An analysis of the revision processes, compromises, and the bill's final form suggests that the Government favored liberalization of the law primarily in cases where changes increased control and/or strengthened the punitiveness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system. This is illustrated by the relative influence on the bill's final form exerted by law enforcement, feminist, and homosexual communities. 7 notes and 66 references.