Status of Women Committee on March 20th, 2023

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you very much.

How much time do I have, Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 24 seconds.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

That isn't a lot of time. Maybe I will start and then follow up with you, Mr. Anson.

It's been reported that a lot of migrant sex workers won't come forward because of fear of deportation, especially in situations where they experience violence.

I will leave it there, and then I'll come back in the next round and ask you some questions about that.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We will start our next round. It's five minutes, five minutes, two and a half minutes and two and a half minutes. We'll start off with Dominique.

Dominique, you have five minutes.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I would appreciate it if you could keep your answers fairly brief, because we don't have much time.

Mr. Anson, you talk in your speaking notes about the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking.

As for you, Ms. Van De Bogart, you talk about the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking.

The action plan is from 2012 and the strategy is from 2019.

Does each agency have its own action plan?

Are you working in isolation, each organization on its own?

What is the origin of these plans and strategies? How do they work when it comes to being efficient and operational?

[Michelle Van De Bogart]

The national strategy to combat human trafficking that we're speaking about today was launched in 2019, but there was a previous strategy that started in 2012. We have been, as the Government of Canada, working collaboratively together since that time to continue to build on this.

It's just building on what was being done with the work that we commenced in 2012.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you very much.

The regular citizens listening today may have some idea of what human trafficking is.

If I were to ask you to show us what a typical case of human trafficking looks like, what would you tell us so that people understand what we are talking about today? What is the typical case?

[Daniel Anson]

If I had to respond, I'd say it's very difficult because there are a variety of different types of exploitation that, unfortunately, are used by prospective traffickers of humans.

I've tried to learn as much as I can and will continue to learn about this, but there are a variety of different concepts that I think people misassociate with what I would term the “chains of modern slavery”. It could be everything from forced labour to sexual exploitation. It is anything that is done to force somebody, against their will, to conduct an activity that is most likely, in many cases, and certainly related to human trafficking, for horrible purposes.

Whether it's forced labour, where it might manifest itself in the construction sector or among agricultural workers where it's exploiting people who arrive in Canada seeking freedom from persecution, or whether it's people being exploited for sexual purposes.... Again, my colleague, Ms. Van De Bogart explained that approximately 96% of people are exploited for sexual purposes and of all the people who are trafficked or are victims of human trafficking, 71% of them are trafficked for sexual exploitation purposes.

What does it look like today? It is in all environments. It is in all classes of society. It is in a variety of different industries. The efforts to raise awareness, I think, are some of the best methods that we can do to combat it.

To speak to the point on silos as well, we do work effectively together within the police and law enforcement regulatory bodies. Also, internationally under the partnerships pillar, we are working with international partners to raise awareness—certainly in source countries from which people are potentially trafficked into Canada.

It looks like a lot of different things, and it's something that we are continuing to evolve. Our intelligence reporting continues to provide indicators as to what it looks like today so that we can get better at identifying it and addressing it.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you.

This is about an information campaign that has been launched or will be launched in which you are calling on the public. Members of Parliament around this table have people coming into their constituency offices, people who are coming into the country, such as foreign workers.

How can the public and my colleagues and I look for signs that might alert us? What might we be thinking about, for example? Are there situations that might alert us and give us the sense that there is something fishy going on with this or that person?

[Daniel Anson]

I could provide some ideas related to foreign workers and the role that CBSA plays in providing validation inspections of potential foreign workers.

Are people working extended hours? Are work sites cordoned off? Are people not allowed to talk to the public? Are they working weekends? Are there children who are not going to school? There are a variety of different indicators. There's a lot of information available publicly.

If I could maybe finish with this, there is a human trafficking hotline. It's 1-833-900-1010, and if anyone ever has any questions, you can call 1-833-900-1010 and can certainly secure more information. You'll have dedicated expertise to support you and to potentially provide things that you could look for, as well as which police of jurisdiction you might want to refer the issue to.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much. That was really important information to get on the record.

I'm now going to pass it over for the next five minutes to Emmanuella Lambropoulos.

Emmanuella.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank all of our witnesses for coming to give us some information on human trafficking and what our government is doing as a response.

Earlier, Mr. Anson, you spoke about the fact that, when people arrive at the border, they don't have a sign that says they've been trafficked. We don't discover it until later on, and there is a short window when an intervention can actually be made in order to help the victim and to make sure things get taken care of.

Is there anything we're doing when people are coming in at these border service offices and doing interviews or whatever it is? I'm not sure how often it happens, but when someone shows up who is trafficked, or when eventually it's clear that they have been, is there anything we're doing at the border that can let someone feel comfortable expressing that they're not in a good place? I know that it's difficult for them to come out and that they're in danger a lot of the time.

Is there anything more that can be done at the border to get these people to feel more comfortable with coming out or seeking help if they're in a situation that they don't necessarily want to be in?

[Daniel Anson]

It's certainly a very difficult and complex question, because to provide awareness to people who are potentially being trafficked or who, I would surmise, at that stage are likely being smuggled into Canada.... It's very difficult to raise their awareness.

What I would maybe state to address your question, as well as the previous question, is that raising awareness domestically is a really important part of this in ensuring that people are able to identify indicators after arrival in Canada. I can't speak to what could be done at the borders, but what I would say is that what is being done at the borders is that we rely significantly on our border services officers, our BSOs, to apply a very wide range of over 100 pieces of legislation, from the Customs Act to IRPA. However, this is something they are very determined and very emotional about in terms of ensuring this is an issue that we interdict at the border.

What I would provide as a response to give you the comfort that will follow, hopefully, is that, in a circumstance where a situation of suspected human trafficking occurs at the border, the first thing that's going to happen is that the BSO is going to separate the potential victim from the person who is trafficking them. From that point, there is a range of different procedures that will follow and that will be adhered to by the BSO and will likely lead to detention and, potentially, a referral for investigation to the police of jurisdiction or the RCMP. It's at that stage that the person who has been traumatized and is suspected of being trafficked will have access to a range of different services and supports from our federal partners, which are typically offered through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The other thing I would add is that quite often—and it's something we hear quite frequently—people are afraid to come forward because they risk deportation. Every case is different, but a variety of different support services are available to people who raise the issue of potentially being trafficked: from emergency housing, emergency funding and support services to a variety of different types of status in Canada, whether it's an open work permit for vulnerable workers or a temporary resident permit for victims of trafficking in persons. There is a support mechanism that is in place, and it is immediately actionable at the border. BSOs receive this training so that they have this top of mind and are able to take action to interdict should they suspect that a victim is being trafficked through the border at a port of entry into Canada.

Thank you very much for the question.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

If they are caught later on, is there a risk of their being deported or are they protected? You've said there is a risk and a danger that the traffickers themselves pose to these people. Is there protection in place? Do you work with your partners to ensure they'll have a safe route, let's say?

[Daniel Anson]

Thank you again for the question. Again, I appreciate your taking this line of questioning a bit more towards a mature response, because I think it's very important to raise some awareness of some of the supports and services that are available.

I cannot speak on behalf of IRCC, other than to state the existence of a variety of different mechanisms that are in place to protect people who might have already been traumatized from being revictimized. IRCC has at its disposal when assessing cases the ability to stay removals. There are preremoval risk assessments that are done prior to somebody's being deported or placed on a removal list. They have the ability to make refugee protection claims. They can also apply on humanitarian and compassionate grounds to stay their removal.

These are in place. These are certainly the domain of our federal policing partners and we support them, as police of jurisdiction and RCMP support them, in providing the information to inform the decision-making about every individual case.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

I'm now passing it over to Andréanne for two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I again thank the witnesses for being with us today.

The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking was launched in 2012 and the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking was launched in 2019. Yet, the numbers continue to show that the number of human trafficking victims is increasing.

You even said that trafficking affects women particularly. According to your latest figures, women and girls account for 96% of cases. That's really striking.

But what's even worse is that we suspect that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It is a very sensitive issue, but it seems that women and girls who are trafficked find it difficult to speak out. They probably also feel a certain lack of confidence about how they can be helped if they report it. They have already said so. Whistleblowing also leads to fear.

Why do the victims not trust the system and the different institutions that deal with human trafficking?

Clearly, there is a problem with lack of trust.

Mr. Anson, please be frank; since the launch of the last National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking in 2019, how has your work evolved in relation to the detection of human trafficking cases?

Do you feel better equipped in 2023 to prevent and detect these cases?

[Daniel Anson]

Thank you for that question also.

I cannot necessarily speak to what is not working. I can certainly speak to what is working.

I would say that, thanks to increased support and awareness, the CBSA, in particular, has worked diligently to increase our awareness and to increase and evolve, in an iterative fashion, the range of training that is provided to BSOs, ensuring that our ports of entry are not mechanisms for supporting or facilitating the trafficking of persons, particularly women, girls and gender-diverse people who will then be exploited here domestically.

What else is working is that, specifically from the intelligence program perspective within the agency, we were initially asked to provide.... I think the target was 11 intelligence reports a year that would provide greater awareness, indicators and warnings. To date, since 2019, we've produced over 145. Currently, we're producing approximately 35 per year. These are very detailed, informative intelligence reports that give a list, an enumeration, of different types of things to look for as they evolve and that also highlight and identify that evolving exploitation of our immigration processes. How are they transiting borders? What are the indicators or warnings in a vehicle of somebody who is potentially being trafficked? What are the behavioural, visual and travel patterns that are identifiable by a BSO?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you, Daniel.

I'm now going to pass it over to Leah Gazan for two and a half minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

I'm just continuing on with Mr. Anson.

We know that the best way to protect women is to use harm reduction approaches. Sex trafficking is certainly an issue. However, according to the CBC, on May 11, 2015, with regard to human trafficking, Jean McDonald, who worked—I don't know if she still does—at Maggie's, the Toronto sex workers action project, said, “People swept up in human trafficking investigations should be offered permanent residency and immediate immunity from deportation.”

Based on my colleague's question about the fears of many individuals who are being sex trafficked, the fear of coming forward because of a fear of deportation, do you agree that one of the ways to protect women would be to offer permanent residency in sex trafficking cases so that they feel safer to come forward with information?

[Daniel Anson]

In terms of the immigration continuum and in consideration of assessing each individual case, I'm not qualified to speak to that. That is certainly the domain of IRCC, and that is an issue, probably, for the case management area within IRCC. I cannot speak to that other than, again, to highlight the fact that there are mechanisms in place and options available to people who already have been victimized or traumatized. Very specifically, they take into account victims of gender-based violence, which I think is a really important consideration. However, it's not necessarily my domain.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Fair enough.

However, in saying that, from your experience, is one of the hesitancies or fears for women who are sex trafficked to come forward the fear of being deported, yes or no? Because I have limited time, I think we only have time for a yes or a no.

[Daniel Anson]

I understand. Thank you again for the question.

I would say that, in general, there is always reticence to report for a variety of different reasons and a multiplicity of situations that surface. Most particularly, people who arrive through smuggling channels do not necessarily have legitimate status in Canada. If you do not have a real passport or the status to be employed, as a foreign national.... It's another situation where somebody would be absolutely apprehensive to raise that.

In terms of fear of deportation, again, that is something I'm not necessarily able to speak to, but it's a natural inference.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We're now going to pass it over to Michelle Ferreri.

Michelle, you have five minutes.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much to our witnesses for being here. It's a very important topic.

My riding is Peterborough—Kawartha. It's right along the 401 corridor. I'm curious about what you guys think. Again, I'll open up this to anybody.

Mr. Anson, it may not tie into you as much, but perhaps Ms. Demers...?

The 401 corridor seems to be an extreme hot spot for human trafficking. What do you think we could be doing to stop that?