Thank you. Wela'lioq. I come to you today from the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq here in Nova Scotia.
First of all I want to say thank you so much to each of the witnesses for their very moving stories and personal experiences, their lived experiences. It takes a lot of courage to speak out. It takes a lot of courage to share these stories with others, and until more people come forward and are heard and have people actually listening and ready to act, you're right to say that this cycle will continue.
Regarding human trafficking, Canada, our government, is guided right now by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its supplementary protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. It's been organized around four pillars: the prevention of trafficking, the protection of victims, the prosecution of offenders, and working in partnership with others. There's a new one that's been added, which is called empowerment.
They've added this particular new one to enhance supports and services to victims. I have to say there's about $75 million that is going to be coming over six years, including $57.22 million over five years, and with $10.28 million ongoing to implement an enhanced suite of initiatives to help strengthen our response and fill critical gaps.
That said, how much of this issue do you feel has to do with organized crime, and how much do you feel has to do with just individuals who are exploiting women and children?
Who would like to go first? Karen Pictou, would you like to go first, and then Ms. Perrier and Ms. Baptie and Ms.... I can't see your name there.