Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on June 15th, 2021

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I can take that.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I think when we look at the need to provide trauma and addiction services, which are very lacking right across the country, especially in remote and isolated locations, there needs to be adequate funding and resourcing that's long term to support indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people recovering from colonial violence. There's a great need. There needs to be a lot more action to ensure that there are mechanisms for healing from colonial violence and to treat individuals who are seeking the supports and resources to recover from the addictions that are used as a coping mechanism to recover from the trauma associated with colonial violence.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

Is there an advantage to having a national hotline for reporting human trafficking? Has this service been used frequently by indigenous peoples? Are the services culturally appropriate?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

We've done outreach through our organization for this hotline. From what I've seen, one of the biggest concerns is that you can have a hotline, but you need to ensure that there are adequate resources to support individuals who are seeking resources from calling that hotline. Currently, that doesn't exist across the country.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

It's interesting, because when youth are having issues with mental health or addictions, they find it difficult to go to a group and talk to adults about it. They feel much better talking to other youth, peer to peer. What do you suggest is best for women and girls who are being trafficked or who are under threat of being trafficked? Who is it best for them to go to? How can we help them best to stay out of this particular terrible quagmire?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I think the supports that are developed have to be indigenous-led, barrier-free and judgment-free. Victims have to feel a sense of belonging. As well, those types of services and resources should be developed in consultation with victims of human and sex trafficking, because they're the experts of their lived experience and their agency. They should have the autonomy to participate in the different types of committees that are establishing different types of resources and services. If that does not occur and the voices that are impacted are not at the table, then, as we've seen across this country in many circumstances, they're often not meeting the needs.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Right. Here in Nova Scotia, we're working with the Nova Scotia Native Women's centre. It was nice to be able to help get them about $380,000 for their human trafficking program to try to prevent human trafficking here in Millbrook First Nation and here in Nova Scotia. Highway 102, which goes from Halifax...goes right across the country, and we call it the highway of tears, because there are so many young women who have been trafficked. They are taken right through our community here and on further west.

How much would you say organized crime has to do with the people who are behind the human trafficking blight?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I think a very large portion of it has to do with organized crime, but one thing I also want to highlight is that when we look at the economic recovery from the pandemic, we also have to be ready to respond. We're going to see an increase in human trafficking and sexual exploitation of indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBT2QQIA+ people. As a country, we have to be ready to respond and ensure that there are resources and supports ready to respond and protect those who are victims.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

That brings us to time, Ms. Zann. Thank you.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

I agree.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Ms. Bérubé, the floor is yours for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to you for being here for this meeting. Your testimony is very important to our understanding of this entire process.

In an article entitled “Trafficking in persons in Canada, 2018” that appeared in Statistics Canada's Juristat, we read that: “ the vast majority of victims of police-reported human trafficking were women and girls (97%).”

Although the article provides no statistics on sex trafficking, it says that: “[t]hese trends suggest that, in Canada, human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation is more prevalent—or more likely to be detected or reported—than human trafficking for other purposes”.

The article does not mention indigenous women and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Can you give us any data on human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Hilda, would you like that one?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

Sure, I'll take it.

Currently, one of the biggest problems we see as indigenous people in this country is how data is collected. The way data is currently collected, it does not tell the true story of our realities. I know there's a huge push to develop mechanisms where there is the ability to build the framework and work towards indigenous data sovereignty.

Right now it's very difficult to accurately track how many victims there are of human trafficking and sex trafficking, as well as even to accurately track the correct number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

There has to be a real push to ensure that the framework and the resourcing is made available for indigenous data sovereignty and collection to occur to really highlight the realities we're facing as indigenous people in this country.

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

We know that the process has gaps in terms of comparative data.

Are there ways to fill those gaps?

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I'm not sure if anybody else wants to answer that. If you don't, I can.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Please go ahead.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I really highlighted that again. There is the need for the infrastructure, the tools and the resourcing to be able to accurately capture the realities and the colonial violence experienced by indigenous women and girls. I think that will really tell the true story of what is occurring in this country. We need to do it sooner than later.

The national inquiry highlighted many truths of the lived experience of indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ in Canada, but we need to have proper infrastructure for data.

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

Grand Chief Settee, you mentioned earlier that, in northern Manitoba, there is a city triangle where human trafficking takes place. You talked about the need for support for the police, for infrastructure and for secure housing.

Do you have any other recommendations to deal with this trafficking?

[Grand Chief Garrison Settee]

One of the things I would like to see is the ability to have infrastructure in first nations for the protection of women, even in the urban centres. They need to have access to a safe place. If they don't have access to a safe place, they will go out on the street. They'll be on the streets and they'll be very vulnerable out there with nobody looking after them. We need to really emphasize that.

In my tenure as grand chief, we have seen so much happening to women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The biggest need we have right now is to have those safe places. I advocate that every first nation should have a women's shelter.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I also wanted to add a little bit to what Grand Chief is saying. We need to heavily focus on prevention through education, as well. We need to have programs in schools that are starting from a very young age on teaching about safety, boundaries, and the human trafficking and sexual exploitation that is occurring out there.

When we look at the remoteness and the isolation of many of the communities within the MKO territory, they don't have the proper infrastructure to be able to look at resources online. Poor connectivity issues are currently impacting many of the nations within the MKO territory. We need to develop curriculum that will start at a very young age within schools and has a heavy focus on prevention and reclaiming identity and culture to strengthen indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. We need to have spaces that promote cultural activities and the reclaiming of identity.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much.

Rachel Blaney, please go ahead for six minutes.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to everyone who's here to testify today. I really appreciate what you had to share.

I'll come first to Ms. Brown and then follow up with Ms. Anderson-Pyrz.

I'm hearing a lot of information here that is really interesting, but I want to get more into the services that are provided. I really appreciate hearing about the needs of rural and remote communities as a result of their lack of access and having to send people away. I think that's really important.

I'm just wondering if you could start, Ms. Brown, about how your organization supports individuals who have experienced or are experiencing sex trafficking. What are the most important factors to consider when providing these services to indigenous individuals who have experienced sex trafficking?

I also just want to say that if you have any information about the male side of this—because I've also done some research, and it sounds to me like there's a growing population of men who are being sex trafficked—I think it would be helpful for the committee.

Thank you.

[Bryanna R. Brown]

In the Alluriarniq program, it's really important for us to provide cultural supports in the ways that we support survivors, and have an elder present and available for those who are seeking services from us.

Food security is also a large issue that contributes to the issue of human trafficking.

We also provide counselling and we recently created an internship program for survivors of human trafficking. I'm a survivor myself, so I took part in this internship program. The manager of the Alluriarniq program, who had recently finished her position with us, created this internship program. It really helped me to gain more experience in relation to my employment and career path, and has improved my life very much.

Another thing that is extremely important in helping to prevent human trafficking is housing. That's something that I had really large issues with. After I was hit by a car, about four years ago, I was having issues accessing health care due to racism. Each time I went to the doctor, I remember it was assumed that I was drunk or intoxicated, as I was really dizzy from having trouble breathing. The car hit my leg, so I was really unbalanced when walking. To a lot of people, I seemed intoxicated, but I was not. It felt like I was being passed around a lot. That lack of health care caused me to get weaker and weaker. I was not able to work, and then people started to take more advantage of my situation.

Over time, after finally coming to Ottawa, and living in Ottawa, I was able to access the health care services I needed. Working with Tungasuvvingat Inuit, I felt that I was adequately helped, and much less vulnerable due to the services it provided me, especially with regard to housing.

The City of Ottawa has a home with a good subsidy, which I found to be extremely helpful, as I had moved out of a shelter four days prior to the pandemic. Since the pandemic, I find that there have been much more social supports, and my life has greatly improved due to these supports.

For the factors to consider, the intergenerational trauma from residential schools within our community stills plays a really large role, and is largely connected with the issues of human trafficking, and missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2-spirit.

I had a lot of trouble going to school after experiencing more and more colonial violence after being hit by a car, and different things like that. Vocational training in order to advance, especially on the job, would be very helpful, and perhaps reduce the feelings of trauma when we're learning or having to go school.

For male survivors, there have been a few people that have confided in me their experiences they have had with sexual assault or human trafficking. I noticed that men were typically very afraid to trust anyone with this information, and definitely more afraid of having that information divulged to family members, the public, or those they work with.

I think that's a really large barrier to providing supports. Having culturally relevant supports is extremely important. Growing up, I had a lot of anger in terms of finding my identity and understanding who I was. Ever since I have understood my culture more, I'm calmer and healthier. I'm able to function better, and navigate the world easier ever since.

Thank you.