Justice Committee on Feb. 15th, 2018

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Fair enough.

This question is for Canada Border Services—or anyone else might answer it.

I had a meeting in my hometown, Niagara Falls, on this subject about a week ago, where one of the people there said that a very young woman didn't want to come forward, even though she's a victim and was trying to escape. She did not want to come forward because she feared she would be deported since she was from outside of the country.

Do you come across examples like that, of people who are worried that if they start talking about what has happened to them, people will know that they got smuggled into the country for the purposes of trafficking?

[Lynn Lawless]

Yes, I think that's a common concern, and the best we can do is to try to inform people that in fact when they do come forward, they will be referred to IRCC to consider what their immigration options are. I understand that IRCC will be appearing before you on a later day. IRCC is able to offer temporary residency to those individuals to allow them to remain, to participate in the investigation and prosecution.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Is it just temporary residence and then they have to leave?

[Lynn Lawless]

There are other options available.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

So there are other options.

[Lynn Lawless]

I would prefer to let my IRCC colleagues respond to that point.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Okay. I'll look forward to that testimony.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Housefather]

Thank you very much, Mr. Nicholson.

Mr. Fraser.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you all very much for being here and helping us as we start our study on human trafficking. I have so many questions for all of you. I'll try to get through as many as I can.

First, Ms. Lawless, what can you tell me about specific training for front-line officers at CBSA? Do all CBSA officers who are protecting our border have training and the tools necessary to actually spot potential people who are being trafficked? Do you see any vulnerabilities at CBSA right now in terms of your not being able to address these challenges across the country?

[Lynn Lawless]

Yes, indeed, as part of their basic training, all front-line officers receive a course called “People at Risk”. That course includes human trafficking, abducted children, youth, and people at risk. It's part of the basic training. They're taught about the legislation around human trafficking, the human trafficking phenomenon, the differentiation between human trafficking and human smuggling, and the indicators of human trafficking. That's part of their role, to identify the indicators and detect those kinds of cases in a port-of-entry scenario. They also receive specific training on the procedures to follow, which would include referral to the RCMP when we would have suspicion of a human trafficking situation, referral to IRCC to examine the immigration options, and, if required, referral to local social services for support and counselling as required. That's part of the basic training.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thanks very much for that.

Ms. Crampton, perhaps I can move to you and get your perspective. Mr. Nicholson asked a question a moment ago on perhaps one barrier for people not wanting to come forward, namely their worry about their immigration status. You mentioned in your presentation that there are barriers to people coming forward. I wonder if you could elaborate on what other barriers there might be for victims being able to come forward in order to identify their situation to the authorities.

[A/Commr Joanne Crampton]

Certainly the immigration piece is significant, but within the sex trade industry there's always a fear of prosecution for other offences. There's a fear of repercussion. There's intimidation. There's a fear of personal assault. A sex trade worker could be abused physically, and sexually abused. There are a lot of other repercussions that they fear—and legitimately so.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Taylor, I'd appreciate your comments on this, and Ms. Sheppard may want to weigh in on it as well.

With the changes in the Criminal Code, obviously the intent was to fill in gaps in the law that prevented the prosecution of certain offences. Those have changed over the last 15 or 20 years. Have we seen a change in conviction rate of this sort of activity as a result of those measures, and do you see any gaps that still remain for our committee to consider?

[Matthew Taylor]

Thanks for the question. It's a good one.

I think someone alluded to this earlier. In the years following the enactment of the Criminal Code offences on human trafficking, there was a certain period of time during which implementation was required, so you weren't seeing charges laid for those specific offences for a number of years. In the early years of the prosecutions, the principal challenge related to proving the element of exploitation, which requires evidence to show that a person in the shoes of the victim would have feared for their safety if they'd refused to provide labour or services. There was a lot of uncertainty around that element in the initial days, which led to law reform to help courts and prosecutors understand the kinds of evidence required to successfully establish exploitation.

Would I say there are gaps in the law now? It's very difficult for me to answer that. What I can say is that based on the case law, we can see that the courts are now understanding the essential requirements for the offence. They're becoming more comfortable with the kinds of evidence that are required. But by its very nature, human trafficking will always be a difficult offence to investigate because of the power dynamics between the victim and the trafficker. The importance of training and continually reinforcing knowledge among the policing and crown community is really critical, from my perspective.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Just briefly, what kind of sentencing range are we looking at for most convictions for this type of activity?

[Matthew Taylor]

I can provide the information to the committee. I didn't bring any with me today. I do know there is a broad range, from no imprisonment to significant periods of imprisonment. I wouldn't want to give you a specific number. We know there are a lot of guilty pleas for human trafficking prosecutions, and that fact factors into the sentencing, but we also know that the courts are imposing relatively stringent penalties even in guilty convictions.

I can follow up in writing.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

On the mandatory minimums for this type of activity, have there been any charter challenges of those that we should be aware of?

[Matthew Taylor]

There are some that the department is tracking in respect of the mandatory minimum penalty for child trafficking. I don't believe there has been an outcome in any specific case yet involving a constitutional challenge to the mandatory minimums.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thanks very much. I suspect that's my time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Housefather]

You have another minute.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Oh, do I?

Ms. Sheppard, can I ask you, then, to comment on Mr. Taylor's remarks with regard to any remaining gaps in the law, from your perspective?

[Carole Sheppard]

I don't have anything to add to what Mr. Taylor said. Certainly with respect to the code, as I indicated, that's not our bailiwick. We don't prosecute those offences. With respect to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, I don't have any observations to make.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Okay.

I'll turn to the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Mr. Bhupsingh, do you have any comment with regard to collaboration with international partners? How does that look from a Canadian perspective? Are we using Interpol to flag certain cases that come forward that we're aware of? Is there anything more we could be doing on that front to work with our international partners?

[Trevor Bhupsingh]

Sure. I'll just turn it over to my colleague Michael Holmes, and then perhaps Ms. Crampton might have some observations as well, largely because they are tied to some of the international engagement.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Okay.