Conservative leaders blast Supreme Court for tossing 1-year mandatory sentences on child porn possession

The conservative backlash is growing to Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling throwing out mandatory minimum sentences for child pornography crimes.

“This ruling raises serious questions about whether the punishments will truly reflect the severity of these offences and the pain they inflict,” Nova Scotia Justice Minister Scott Armstrong said in a statement on Saturday.

“Child pornography offences are not abstract or victimless. As a former school principal, I have seen first-hand the devastating harm that sexual exploitation of children can cause,’ he said. “Mandatory minimum sentences send a clear message that exploiting children is among the most serious crimes, and will be treated that way.”

Canada’s top court narrowly ruled Friday to strike down the one-year mandatory minimum sentence requirement for the possession and access of child pornography, after examining the punishment’s impact on a hypothetical 18-year-old involved in sexting.

The decision prompted swift backlash from elected conservatives across the country.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford called on the Liberals to keep the one-year mandatory sentence in place by using the notwithstanding clause, which would mean reintroducing the measure in legislation.

“This decision is outrageous,” Smith said Friday on the X social media platform. “The possession of child pornography is a heinous crime, and even a one-year minimum sentence is already far too lenient.”

This decision is outrageous. The possession of child pornography is a heinous crime, and even a one-year minimum sentence is already far too lenient.We call on the Federal Government to immediately invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to overturn this ruling and…

— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 31, 2025

On X, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe wrote that the ruling was why he believed “elected legislators, not unelected judges,” ought to make laws.

Former Alberta premier and federal minister Jason Kenney called on the Carney government to invoke the notwithstanding clause — or if it doesn’t, for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to introduce legislation to do so.

“This aberrant decision by the Supreme Court cannot stand. It is a basic test of our fundamental values as a country. Put partisanship and slavish deference to judicial power aside. Do the right thing,” he said on X.

Poilievre issued a statement late Friday vowing to reintroduce the mandatory sentence, should his party form the next government.

“My future government will reintroduce mandatory minimum sentences for possession of child sexual abuse material and ensure dirtbags like the ones before the court are in prison where they belong,” Poilievre said, adding on X that the Supreme Court ruling was “dead wrong.”

Child porn users must face mandatory prison time. The Supreme Court ruling today removing those penalties was dead wrong.Conservatives will use the Notwithstanding Clause to protect the rights of children by locking up child porn users with mandatory prison time.We must…

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) October 31, 2025

The case, which was heard by a nine-judge panel, involved a challenge to the sentencing rules brought forward by two men in Quebec who pleaded guilty to having hundreds of images of children as young as three being severely abused.

At the heart of the debate was a scenario which was not based on the facts of the actual case but on another possible scenario, which led to a 5-4 ruling from the top court.

The majority ultimately found the one-year mandatory minimum sentences for the crimes to be unconstitutional on the basis that the crimes themselves cover a variety of circumstances, which could cross the Charter-protected right that guards against cruel and unusual punishment.

Nova Scotia’s Armstrong said he would ask federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser “to take action to ensure our justice system continues to protect the most vulnerable, particularly children and youth.”

A spokeswoman for Fraser said on Friday the federal government was reviewing the decision.

“Crimes that exploit or abuse children are among the most serious and reprehensible in our society. Plain and simple: child abusers should face the toughest penalties Canadian law allows,” Lola Dandybaeva wrote in a statement on Friday.

The notwithstanding clause is a section of the Charter that acts as an override function that can cover other sections, including those that protect legal rights. A fierce debate has broken out in recent years about the limits of its use.

• Supreme Court striking down 1-year mandatory sentence for child porn possession prompts calls for Liberals to overrule
• What is Canada's notwithstanding clause? And why Pierre Poilievre wants to use it

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