OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has announced that the government will not invoke the notwithstanding clause to counter a recent Supreme Court ruling that eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for child pornography offenses. Fraser stated, "We don’t intend to override the Constitution to fix the problem. There are other solutions that are apparent to us, and we’re doing the policy exercise to find the right path right now to protect our kids," during a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

This marks Fraser's first public response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s controversial 5-4 decision issued on Friday, which invalidated the one-year mandatory prison sentence for the possession and access of child sexual abuse images. Critics have expressed discontent with the court's majority opinion, which they argue relied on a hypothetical situation involving an 18-year-old accessing a nude photo from a 17-year-old, rather than focusing on the serious nature of the cases at hand.

The ruling involved two men, one in his late 20s and the other in his 30s, who had previously pleaded guilty to possessing hundreds of images depicting preschool and elementary school-aged children being sexually abused.

Manitoba’s NDP Premier Wab Kinew joined the chorus of criticism on Monday, asserting that individuals convicted of possessing child pornography should face significant prison time. He remarked, "Not only should you go to prison for a long time, they should bury you under the prison."

Kinew did not specifically call for the federal government to use the notwithstanding clause, unlike Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who advocated for such action last week. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also supported the idea of reinstating mandatory minimum sentences through the notwithstanding clause.

Fraser emphasized that while he will not pursue the notwithstanding clause, he intends to introduce new legislation in the coming weeks aimed at addressing the sexual exploitation of children in online environments. He stated, "The path forward will involve certain policy choices. I don’t think we need to override the constitution to fix these problems, but we are going to fix the gap."

The one-year mandatory minimum sentence for child pornography possession was established by An Act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children and other vulnerable persons) and the Canada Evidence Act, which took effect on January 2, 2006.