The Conservative government wants the age of consent raised to 16, but would allow teenagers as young as 14 to have sex with partners within five years of their own age, CTV News has learned.

The exception addresses criticism that raising the age of consent would criminalize so-called "puppy love" between minors.

Under the proposed legislation, 14-year-olds could legally have sex with a partner up to the age of 19, and 15-year-olds with a partner up to the age of 20.

"Our motivation is simply to protect youth in the 14-to-15-year age group," said New Democratic MP Joe Comartin.

When Diane Sowden's daughter became pregnant at 14, the current age of consent, she soon succumbed to a downward spiral of drugs and sex in Vancouver's downtown eastside.

"My daughter became pregnant at 14 and when I went to the police they told me there was nothing legally they could do," she said.

Sowden now works for the Children of the Street Society, a non-profit organization aimed at helping sexually exploited children and youth like her daughter.

Justice Minister Vic Toews said changing the age of consent to 16 will help reduce cases like Sowden's daughter.

"Sixteen is I think an age that is supported by child caring agencies, by police agencies and indeed by the population in general," he said.

Police agree the legislation would help keep minors safe from sexual predators on the World Wide Web and pimps on the street.

"We need to give police and parents the tools to be able to say, 'Hey, how do we protect our children,' and particularly in today's world where we see much more activity on the Internet,'" said Tom Matakis, vice president of the Canadian Professional Police Association.

Meanwhile, gay rights activists say the new legislation doesn't address what they call discrimination against gay men. Currently, anal sex is illegal for Canadians under the age of 18.

Ariel Troster from Egale Canada, an organization that advances equality for gays and lesbians, said homosexual men should be able to have sex at the same age as straight men.

"It just seems completely absurd that if the government is going to visit the age of consent, that they not visit this issue of discrimination against gay youth," she said.

If the legislation passes, it would be the first time the age of consent has been raised since 1890.

With a report by CTV's Rosemary Thompson in Ottawa