I think we have to recognize that there are different populations that are more susceptible to human trafficking, if we look at the demographics. If you're interested, there are different ways through Statistics Canada to look at that, but you rightly pointed out.... I think it's 85% of those who are trafficked are women and girls, and 25%, I think, are under the age of 18.
You also mentioned quite correctly that Canada is a destination for sexual exploitation. When I was looking at my original bill, I attended a round table at what was called UOIT, in Oshawa. It's called Ontario Tech now, but it was a round table put on about human trafficking and exploitation. At that round table, we had the FBI and the Texas Rangers.
In Texas, they have a different system, in which they have these mandatory minimums. If somebody is caught in Texas trafficking six women, he knows he's facing 60 years in jail most of the time. The officer said to me, “We get this guy to plead out in three months. He's in jail. He's off the street. It's a good thing. Your system is crazy. Listening to these victims here, it may take two or three years to get to court, and then they're revictimized.”
If you listen to some of these victims, your heart goes out to them, because they're getting on with their life and changing it, and then suddenly they have to go back to court and they may be faced.... Because they're on trial, the defence attorney is going to make them the bad person. This means that many of these cases will get dropped.
By changing the definition the way I'm proposing here, it's going to take that onus and it's going to be about the perpetrator, the trafficker. It's not about proving that the victim had an element of fear when the trafficking was occurring.