Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on June 1st, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

This meeting is now called to order, starting with the acknowledgement that in Ottawa we're meeting on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on April 29, 2021, the committee continues its study on the sex trafficking of indigenous peoples.

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When speaking, ensure that your video is turned on. Speak slowly and clearly. When not speaking, you should be on mute.

I must inform the committee that pursuant to the standing order adopted on March 9, 2021, all witnesses have completed a technical pretest.

With us this afternoon are department officials. I will start with the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Michelle Van De Bogart, director general.

Ms. Van De Bogart, would you please go ahead with your testimony? You have six minutes.

[Michelle Van De Bogart, Director General, Law Enforcement and Border Strategies, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me today to speak to the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. My name is Michelle Van De Bogart. I'm the director general of the law enforcement and border strategies directorate in the community safety and countering crime branch at Public Safety Canada. My team and I are responsible for leading the Government of Canada's efforts to combat human trafficking.

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge with gratitude that I'm currently in Ottawa on the unceded, unsurrendered land of the Algonquin, and I would also like to acknowledge that we recently all learned the devastating news about the uncovering of a mass grave of indigenous children on the grounds of the former Kamloops residential school. I would like to recognize and honour the lives of these children and the heartbreaking hardships that their families must have endured.

The Government of Canada takes the issue of human trafficking very seriously and is committed to strengthening our efforts to combat this horrible crime. In September 2019, the Minister of Public Safety launched the national strategy to combat human trafficking, which brings federal efforts together under one strategic framework, supported by an investment of $57.22 million over five years and $10.28 million ongoing.

The national strategy is based on the internationally recognized pillars of prevention, protection, prosecution, partnerships and empowerment. This last pillar focuses on enhancing supports for victims affected by this crime. In addition, in 2018, the Government of Canada announced $14.5 million over five years and $2.89 million ongoing to create the Canadian human trafficking hotline. This hotline is a toll-free service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that refers victims to local law enforcement, shelters and other supports. It is able to field questions in more than 200 languages, including 27 indigenous languages.

Human trafficking is a complex and highly gendered crime with root causes that include poverty, racism, wage inequality, lack of education and lack of employment opportunities, all of which we know indigenous people experience disproportionately compared to other Canadians. Echoing what we heard during the pre-inquiry design process, the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls identified human trafficking and sexual exploitation as a key issue.

In addition, the MMIWG calls for justice to reinforce the need to address the disproportionately high rates of violence against indigenous women and girls, including sexual trafficking and sexual exploitation. Through the national strategy to combat human trafficking, the Government of Canada is taking action through various measures to address human trafficking among vulnerable populations.

The Minister of Public Safety named Shirley Cuillierrier as the special adviser to combat human trafficking. She is to advise him and raise awareness of the issue. The special adviser is actively engaged with the department, partners and stakeholders to strengthen efforts to combat the sexual trafficking of indigenous people.

I am pleased to speak about the Government of Canada's investment of up to $22.4 million to fund 63 organizations' anti-human-trafficking efforts. Thirty-three of these organizations serve indigenous people, and 10 are indigenous-led projects. These 63 projects will increase access to services and support for victims and survivors, raise awareness of human trafficking among youth at risk and develop innovative technological ideas to combat human trafficking.

Raising awareness of human trafficking among Canadians is critical. Public Safety launched an awareness campaign entitled “Human Trafficking: It's Not What It Seems” to educate the public, especially youth and parents, about human trafficking. Indigenous-specific focus groups were held in order to ensure that their perspectives were included.

It is important to ensure that victims and survivors receive specialized services to support their recovery and healing. Public Safety is working to develop guidelines for service providers and community organizations, including specific guidelines to support indigenous survivors. In addition to the guidelines, Public Safety is supporting the development of training tools for frontline service providers in the hospitality and transportation sectors, and in other key sectors, in order to educate them on the signs of human trafficking and how to report it.

Finally, in order to inform and influence federal anti-human-trafficking efforts, Public Safety is establishing a survivors advisory committee, including indigenous survivors, to draw upon their lived experiences and expertise. Public Safety is looking to the anti-human-trafficking-related calls for justice in the final report of the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls to inform how the national strategy can further strengthen efforts to combat the sexual trafficking of indigenous people. We will also look to the standing committee study on this important issue.

I thank you again for the opportunity to speak to you today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thanks very much for your testimony.

Next, we have Mr. Sam Jaroudi from the RCMP, officer in charge of the vulnerable persons unit, for up to six minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Sam Jaroudi, Officer In Charge, Vulnerable Persons Unit, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Mr. Chair, I just want to let you know that the RCMP does not have a statement for today; however, I would like to say that the RCMP remains committed to supporting national and local efforts to effectively combat human trafficking by investigating, disrupting and bringing to justice those involved in these crimes.

The RCMP's national human trafficking section centrally facilitates the RCMP's efforts to counter human trafficking through awareness, education and community outreach, as well as building and enhancing partnerships, supporting operations, and advancing operational policy and general external reporting.

The RCMP supports the Government of Canada's national strategy to combat human trafficking and remains committed to addressing human trafficking in collaboration with federal and provincial governments and agencies and government organizations, as well as law enforcement partners.

The extent of human trafficking is difficult to assess due to the classified nature of these offences and the reluctance of victims and witnesses to come forward to law enforcement. However, we are committed to working in partnership with everyone I mentioned.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much.

From the Department of Justice, we have senior counsel Nathalie Levman.

Nathalie, you have up to six minutes.

[Nathalie Levman, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Policy Sector, Department of Justice]

Thank you for welcoming us all to your study of sex trafficking of indigenous peoples.

I speak with gratitude from the unceded territory of the Algonquin people.

The Department of Justice works closely with Public Safety Canada, which leads the national strategy to combat human trafficking, as you've just heard. In particular, Justice Canada is responsible for the criminal law framework governing human trafficking. That framework addresses human trafficking through a range of offences, including offences that specifically target human trafficking conduct.

While the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act includes an offence that addresses transnational human trafficking, the Criminal Code contains specific offences on human trafficking that address transnational cases as well as those that occur entirely within Canada. The main human trafficking Criminal Code offences prohibit recruiting, transporting or harbouring of adults or children to exploit them or to facilitate their exploitation by someone else. Exploitation occurs when a reasonable person who was in the victim's circumstances would believe their physical or psychological safety would be threatened if they failed to provide their labour or services, and this includes sexual services.

In determining whether exploitation occurred, courts may consider a broad range of factors, including whether the accused used or threatened to use coercion, deceived the victim, or abused a position of trust, power or authority.

Other trafficking offences prohibit receiving a material benefit from trafficking children or adults and withholding or destroying travel documents to commit or facilitate trafficking. This is regardless of whether those documents are authentic.

These are all serious offences, with maximum penalties of up to life imprisonment. More severe penalties are imposed when the victim is under the age of 18 years. Moreover, sentencing principles require courts to give primary consideration to the objectives of denunciation and deterrence when imposing a sentence for an offence that involves the abuse of a person who is vulnerable because of personal circumstances, including because the person is indigenous and female.

Other charges are often laid in trafficking cases, such as sexual assault, uttering threats, intimidation and extortion, because human trafficking is an offence that often involves the extraction of another person's labour or services over time. Traffickers may commit these other offences to maintain control over their victims while they extract labour or services from them.

Traffickers may also be charged with sex trade offences in sex trafficking cases, such as procuring others to provide sexual services and profiting from others' sexual services. Individuals who purchase sexual services from trafficking victims may be charged with the Criminal Code offence that prohibits purchasing sexual services, regardless of whether they knew that the person from whom they purchased sexual services was a trafficking victim.

Through Justice Canada's victims fund, the department provides $1 million annually in funding for projects and activities that focus on the needs of victims and survivors of human trafficking. Since 2012, the department has funded 47 human trafficking-related projects by community organizations and law enforcement agencies. These projects include improved services for victims of human trafficking, training for law enforcement officers and frontline service providers working directly with victims of human trafficking, and support for labour trafficking victims.

I'd be very happy to answer any questions you may have on the criminal justice system's response to human trafficking.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much for your testimony.

Next we'll have a presentation from the Department of Indigenous Services. I'm not sure who will present, but please go ahead.

[Ian Kenney, Acting Director General, Social Policy and Programs Branch, Department of Indigenous Services]

It's Ian Kenney here. I'll start, and I'll be brief to allow my colleagues to share a few remarks.

I am Ian Kenney, acting director general of the social policy and programs branch at Indigenous Services Canada. Thank you very much for the opportunity to provide remarks here today. I will speak with you about ISC's family violence prevention program.

This program is a fundamental part of the department's mandate of providing health and social services to promote the safety and well-being of families in indigenous communities. The program contributes to the efforts to ultimately eliminate all forms of violence. It also plays a role in fulfilling the minister's commitment to grow and maintain Canada's network of shelters that serve individuals who are fleeing domestic violence and/or sexual exploitation.

The family violence prevention program supports the operation of a network of 46 shelters that serve indigenous communities across the country. These shelters provide emergency support and a vital place of refuge for indigenous women, children and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people fleeing instances of violence, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

The program also supports the delivery of indigenous family violence prevention projects, both on and off reserve, in priority areas that include human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Recently, the Government of Canada announced $44.8 million to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation over five years to build 10 new shelters in first nations communities on reserve and two in the territories. ISC will be investing an additional $40.8 million in operational funding for these new shelters over the next five years and $10.2 million annually thereafter. This will bring the number of shelters in ISC's network to 58.

Furthermore, the fall economic statement committed $724.1 million to launch a comprehensive violence prevention strategy to expand access to a continuum of culturally relevant supports for indigenous women, children and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people facing gender-based violence. This strategy will support new shelters and transitional or second-stage housing for first nations, Inuit and Métis people across the country, including on reserve, in the north and in urban areas.

I might also add that this includes the construction and operation of new emergency shelters for Inuit women and children across Inuit Nunangat, as well as in urban centres. These new investments will be jointly delivered by ISC and CMHC.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Is there anyone to follow up with your group?

Go ahead, Ms. Nepton.

[Nathalie Nepton, Director General, Child and Family Services Program, Department of Indigenous Services]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for inviting us to be here today.

My name is Nathalie Nepton. My comments will focus on the work we are doing within Indigenous Services Canada that has to do with child and family service reform for first nations children and families.

Although the indigenous population up to the age of 14 makes up 7.7% of all Canadian children, they represent 52.2% of the children in care. We also know that studies have highlighted that having been in a child welfare system was the most common feature among women and girls who entered into prostitution.

We recognize the relationship between investing in the safety and well-being of children and achieving improved outcomes for these children, their families and their communities. For this reason, Indigenous Services Canada is committed to ensuring that families at risk receive support and prevention services designed to maintain familial support systems and to keep children in their communities and connected to their language and culture.

The first nations child and family services program has received significant investments over the past years to support the program and to make it truly child-centred, community-directed, and focused on prevention and early intervention. Recently we have brought significant changes to the program. Most notably, upon reaching the age of majority, youth in care can continue to benefit from the program for an additional two years. This ensures that they have the support they need to transition into adulthood on a healthy path.

Other recent progress toward achieving the goal of reducing the number of indigenous children in care includes the federal indigenous child and family services legislation, “An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families”, which came into force on January 1, 2020. The act establishes such national principles as the best interests of the child, cultural continuity and substantive equality to help guide the provision of child and family services in relation to indigenous children.

Simply put, the act provides a path for indigenous peoples to choose their own solutions for their children and families and to create a better future for the generations to come.

All told, the child and family services reform sector of Indigenous Services Canada is focused on ensuring healthy, strong and prosperous indigenous families and children, thus reducing their vulnerability to negative outcomes, such as being victims of the sex trafficking trade.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you so much.

Now, we have very limited—

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

We can't hear the interpretation well when Mr. Jaroudi is speaking. Would it be possible to resolve the situation so that I can hear it better, please?

[Sam Jaroudi]

Okay.

Can you hear me better now?

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Yes, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you.

We're very tight for time.

I don't have Jamie, who is the first Conservative questioner, or Gary. Who would like to start?

Mr. Viersen, go ahead.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here today.

I'd like to begin with the RCMP or the justice department with regard to the conviction rates. We see that fewer than one in 10 human trafficking charges result in a finding of guilty. The vast majority of those charges are stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged.

I'll start with the RCMP. Is there a significant challenge with securing justice for trafficking victims?

[Sam Jaroudi]

I would suggest that this is more a question for Justice. The RCMP does the investigation and prepares the files for the prosecutor. We are not involved in the process afterwards.

[Nathalie Levman]

I'm not sure if you've had a chance to review the new human trafficking Juristat that was released in early May, but it does speak to some of the issues you've just raised. It raises issues also about whether or not human trafficking cases end up with convictions for other charges when the elements of the human trafficking offence cannot be made out. We know that happens in some cases, and we know that other offences are regularly charged in human trafficking cases, as per my comments.

I'm responsible for the criminal law. I'm not a prosecutor. I wish to clarify that point. I think a prosecutor could speak better to charging practices and in terms of qualitative data, but that is my understanding, having worked closely with prosecutors and reviewed various research, including the Statistics Canada report, which speaks to the issues of concern.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

I appreciate that.

What are some of the more common offences used to convict traffickers, then?

[Nathalie Levman]

You'd have to look at the human trafficking Juristat for statistical analyses. In terms of jurisprudence, which I can speak to, sex trade offences are often charged in human trafficking cases that involve sexual exploitation, although not labour exploitation, for obvious reasons. A range of different offences, as per my comments and my opening remarks, are regularly charged in these cases. They are complex and they involve different kinds of offending, depending upon the facts of the case.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

In Canada, the weight of a human trafficking conviction often rests on the testimony of the victim instead of on the actions of the trafficker. This is due to a narrow definition of “exploitation” in Canada's human trafficking offences.

To fully align us with the UN Palermo protocol, the definition of “human trafficking” would need to be changed to no longer require proof of a victim's personal fear for their safety. Can you comment a little bit on that, Ms. Levman?

[Nathalie Levman]

Sure. You might be interested in reviewing some of the case law out of the Ontario Court of Appeal, starting with the A.A. decision from 2015 in particular. You'll find that the court confirms the parliamentary record that the definition of “exploitation” sets a low bar. It doesn't require proof of fear on the part of the victim but whether or not a reasonable person in the victim's circumstances would believe that his or her physical or psychological safety would be threatened if he or she failed to provide the labour or services. This is in full compliance with article 3 of the trafficking protocol, which requires three elements to be criminalized: the act, the means and an exploitative purpose. Our definition is consistent with that definition in article 3.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Could we bring some legislative clarity around that? It's being clarified in the courts. Is there ability to bring some legislative clarity to that?

[Nathalie Levman]

It's always up to those responsible for legislation to decide to amend it. I would suggest that removing the current definition could harm the very helpful case law we have that interprets it. It's not just the A.A. decision; several other decisions out of the Ontario Court of Appeal have given full effect to that definition.

I'm not saying it can't be done, and it certainly wouldn't be up to me to choose to do it, but we do have a workable definition according to Canadian jurisprudence.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Ms. Van De Bogart, much of the national strategy to combat human trafficking is devoted to prevention. What percentage of the funding goes to prevention?