Status of Women Committee on Oct. 31st, 2006

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We are unsuspending the meeting.

Thank you all for your patience. I am trying to have meetings in two different rooms today. We can at least breathe a little better, and we have additional space for our witnesses.

We have with us now, from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Brian Grant, director general, international and intergovernmental relations. From the Canada Border Services Agency, we have Kimber Johnston, director general, policy and program development directorate. From the Toronto Police, we have Kim Scanlan, detective sergeant, child exploitation section; and Michel Hamel, manager, risk management and special victims unit. From the Vancouver Police, we have Matt Kelly, sergeant with the vice unit; and Michelle Holm, detective constable for the vice unit.

Thank you all so very much for making time in your day to come.

We will have a lot of questions for you. We would appreciate it if you could be brief and to the point with your presentations and answers back and forth to the various committee members.

I will open the floor for whoever would like to present first. Ms. Holm, would you like to go first? Go right ahead.

[Det Michelle Holm, Detective Constable, Vice Unit, Vancouver Police Department]

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm Detective Constable Michelle Holm of the Vancouver Police Department. It is my pleasure to meet with you today to discuss the actions being taken by the Vancouver Police Department to combat human trafficking and share some of our experiences with the committee. I'm here to offer some insight as to what it's like for a police officer to investigate a potential human trafficking file and the challenges faced in dealing with victims who are forced to work in the ugly world of the sex trade.

On March 30, 2006, The Province newspaper reported, and I quote:

Canada's first trial of human trafficking heard yesterday how a Chinese woman was forced to work as a prostitute for long hours seven days a week to pay the man who brought her to Vancouver $11,000 a month. The petite 33-year-old also told how her captor beat her, kept her fake passport and obtained fake identification for her, virtually keeping her a prisoner for almost 18 months. And she told how her “customers” sometimes raped and beat her. The woman...told court she was lured to Canada...with the promise of a waitressing job that would pay her 10 times what she earned in China. She hoped to send money home to her husband...and two children as well as parents and siblings. She got a rude awakening when [the accused] brought her from the Vancouver airport to the massage parlour he ran...and then showed her her new home, a storage room in the basement of his nearby house. ...[The woman broke] into uncontrollable sobs that prompted the judge to call a recess.

I read you this excerpt so you will have an idea about the type of victim we deal with in these cases, and the challenges that face us when we conduct our investigations.

Our first job is to locate the victim and to ensure the person's safety. This can be accomplished by proactive policing by officers sensitive to the crime of human trafficking and by providing them with safe and secure housing in Canada. Investigators will often determine the full elements of the offence by liaising with authorities in the victim's home country, where the family tends to be.

The second job we have is to get the victim to trust us enough to tell us their story and, most importantly, to tell it to us truthfully. This is a huge hurdle, given the convincing that is often done by the trafficker, who tells victims that police in Canada are not to be trusted and that the victims will be thrown in jail if discovered. Unfortunately, this opinion often supports a victim's pre-existing beliefs about the police in their home country, where corruption may actually be an unfortunate reality for them.

The third, and often most difficult, part of our job is victim-witness management, meaning simply to maintain the victim until the court process, which can often be many months or even years down the road. Obviously the investigation is important, but the witness is crucial. At the end of the day, if the human trafficking victim is not willing to testify, a charge cannot successfully be pursued, and the trafficker will continue to operate.

We need the witnesses to be healthy both physically and psychologically, not just because it's the right thing to do in helping these victims reclaim their lives, but also, from our point of view, because we need a healthy and strong witness who can ultimately give credible evidence against a trafficker in future court proceedings. It is not enough to just compile intelligence and rescue victims; if we want to make a dent in this horrific crime, we need to ensure that the traffickers are brought to justice. That requires asking the victims of trafficking to stand up in court and tell their story. That is a difficult task for anyone, let alone a victim who feels out of place in our culture, where there are language and cultural barriers and where they've been enslaved for a period of time and sexually assaulted on a continual basis.

Human trafficking is a very lucrative crime. Consider this: drugs can be transported and consumed only once; women and children involved in the sex trade can be sold over and over and over again. They're an asset to be used indefinitely by the trafficker under what has been called “debt bondage”.

In addressing the victims' issues, police can be assisted by victim services groups who are sensitive to the needs of the trafficked victim and who must have the language skills available to address those needs. Using these groups in this way would assist the police to concentrate on the very complicated and time-consuming investigation that often awaits them. Thus, NGOs and police must learn to work together and trust each other to protect victims of trafficking.

Since the investigation involving Michael Ng, the first person charged in Canada for human trafficking, the Vancouver Police Department has made it a priority to locate other victims of human trafficking. I personally focus my efforts on bawdy house investigations involving brothels that are being run from massage parlours and, more secretly, in residential communities, a type of operation that has become a real problem in the Vancouver area.

It is important to note that not all women found working in these underground brothels are victims of trafficking. In August of this year, we executed a search warrant at an exclusive west side house where eight Malaysian women were found to be working as prostitutes. Police charged the male running the operation with keeping a common bawdy house and living on the avails of prostitution. We interviewed every woman found in this house and determined that one of them was possibly a true victim of trafficking.

We believed so strongly in her story that she was immediately placed into a safe house and arrangements were made for investigators to travel to Kuala Lumpur to liaise with the local authorities there in ensuring her family's safety and also to corroborate the victim's story for court. Our investigation there determined that this victim wasn't a victim at all but a party to the offence that made many Malaysians a lot of money while involved in the sex trade in Vancouver.

It was necessary for us to travel there to complete our investigation and uncover this truth. I tell you about this investigation that is still before the courts so that you might understand the cost and intricacies involved in these types of files and just how seriously police do take this matter.

The temporary residence permit now offered to victims is an excellent step in assisting true victims of this horrific crime. My only comment is that each case needs to be investigated fully, with the victim's safety always of utmost priority to investigators. This is ultimately a costly and complicated process due to the barriers I have mentioned.

Now I will hand it over to my sergeant, Sergeant Matt Kelly, to discuss further issues and recommendations.

[Sgt Matt Kelly, Sergeant, Vice Unit, Vancouver Police Department]

Madam Chair, members of the committee, as Detective Constable Holm mentioned, the Ng file was very frustrating for the investigators because no protocols or guidelines existed in Canada. Due to the professionalism of all personnel involved in all agencies, we worked through each hurdle and frustration until the victims were returned to China safely.

Many things were learned during the investigation and already some important strides have been made. Currently, several initiatives are being embarked upon to create protocols to ensure that investigators in British Columbia and other areas of Canada do not have to repeat the problems encountered in that file.

We have five recommendations we'd like to offer to you as a result of our experience to date. First, Canada must establish better training for all police jurisdictions in relation to international human trafficking and domestic human trafficking. This training should be directed at the RCMP, provincial police and municipal police, the city police departments and other agencies. I am pleased to tell you that the RCMP and Vancouver have commenced with some of these training initiatives already.

We should include our partners in Citizenship and Immigration Canada, also CBSA, and it's also essential that provincial and federal crown counsel are trained in this crime as well.

We could start with this committee recommending that the Canadian Police College create a course for national training and have that training course ready for students in 2007 or 2008.

Second, Canada must establish funding for police agencies to deal with these costly human trafficking files so that departmental budgetary concerns do not threaten effective investigations due to fiscal restraint.

There are approximately 55,000 police members in Canada, and the RCMP comprises approximately 15,000 members or 27% of policing. Funding and staffing increases to the RCMP will not satisfy non-RCMP jurisdictions. One thousand new RCMP members do not assist Vancouver with these labour-intensive investigations, although we do applaud the government for the direction that it's taking with those resources.

Third, Canada must have strong laws surrounding prostitution offences, and we must have vice units enforcing these laws to root out the victims and to prosecute the offenders. Bill C-49, creating section 279 of the Criminal Code of Canada, was an excellent start, especially in regard to domestic human trafficking. Decriminalizing laws surrounding the sex trade will weaken Canada's response to human trafficking and make our youth more vulnerable to sexual consumers and predators.

No 14-year-old boy or girl chooses to enter the sex trade. I'll say that again, because all the experts agree that the average age they enter the sex trade is 14. No 14-year-old girl or boy chooses to enter the sex trade. Do not decriminalize, do not abandon our youth.

The fourth recommendation: Canada needs swift trials to lessen the impact on the victims and send a clear message to the criminals that this type of crime will be investigated and punished rapidly. We should employ the same procedures as we use to process domestic violence cases. Victims should have the ability to screen their testimony from the accused, so that the appearance of that person who victimized them previously does not take them back into the nightmare of their crime. We need to protect the victims.

Fifth, Canada needs to encourage conferences and seminars to exchange best practices and learn from our collective experiences. I am pleased to say that the RCMP, Toronto Police, and Edmonton Police have taken lead roles in this regard by hosting conferences and seminars, and Vancouver plans on participating next year. Canada is a partner in this global problem of human trafficking and we should take a leadership role as a developed nation.

This Parliament and this Standing Committee on the Status of Women have an important role to fulfill in safeguarding women and children against this sinister exploitation.

Finally, Canada has made a commitment to the UN and to the world that this type of crime cannot go undetected or unpunished. We must now put procedures in place to live up to that high ideal, and we can make a difference one victim at a time.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's the Vancouver perspective on the issue, and Detective Constable Holm and I would be pleased to answer any questions concerning prostitution laws, vice work, or human trafficking.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Scanlan.

[Det Sgt Kim Scanlan, Detective Sergeant, Child Exploitation Section, Sex Crimes Unit, Toronto Police Service]

Good morning, and thank you for having us here.

We recognize that this is an international problem, that it's multi-faceted, but we will be speaking about the areas that mostly affect women, and that's going to be about the sex trade.

Under the pillars of protection and prevention, the Toronto Police Service has undertaken several initiatives to increase education and to support victims. The Toronto Police Service priorities for 2006 to 2008 identify six areas on which the service and the Toronto Police Services Board will focus extra attention and our activities. The priorities were developed in consultation with the Toronto Police Services Board, their Toronto Police Service members, and members from our community. Some of the highlights include focusing our resources and activities to support our commitment to community safety and security, recognizing the dangers to and concerns of the most vulnerable to victimization in our society, and addressing the needs of women and children who are victimized, in a multi-faceted task that we must carry out together with community partners.

We are committed to transforming our organization through a strategy of community mobilization that is actively encouraging the community and social agencies in developing and implementing sustainable solutions to local problems. This includes working with our national partners and non-governmental agencies and organizations to identify victims of human trafficking, to help them access support, and lastly, to bring offenders to justice.

The Toronto Police Service relies mostly on divisional, plainclothes, and vice officers to investigate occurrences involving prostitution, strip clubs, and bawdy houses. These units are further supported by headquarters units. One of them would be the special victims section, working out of the sex crimes unit, created this year to address street prostitution involving young persons. The unit proactively meets with members from the sex trade to help identify support mechanisms and to address issues related to violence. Detective Sergeant Hamel will be speaking a little bit further on that in a few minutes.

To date, the Toronto Police Service has not laid any charges in relation to the new human trafficking Criminal Code charges. This is also the case for the Peel Regional Police and the information that I was provided by the York Regional Police vice unit.

Further education regarding human trafficking, of the new laws and immigration policies, is necessary to appropriately recognize and respond to victims. At the end of this November, the sex crimes unit of the Toronto Police Service is hosting our annual training conference. This year's theme is vulnerable victims. Planning has been under way for well over a year now, and one of the presentations is on human trafficking. We are pleased to have members from the Vancouver Police as well as the RCMP in town to address the audience of over 350 police and support agencies.

We've been working with members from our own police college to ensure that human trafficking is included as part of our curriculum. In recent talks with some members from the human trafficking section of the RCMP, we've agreed to host training sessions for our members and for social service agencies to bring the issue of human trafficking to the forefront. The members from the RCMP human trafficking section are making positive inroads in this area, and we support and applaud their training progress.

The Toronto Police Service community mobilization unit has recently developed a newcomer outreach program that is now available on our Toronto Police Service website. This program, including lesson plans for trainers, explains to newcomers the role of the police, and it includes links to important information for additional support. The newcomer outreach program is currently available in 14 languages and has become part of the curriculum of many LINC and ESL classes. The service is also working currently for the content to become available as part of information packages for those interested in coming to Canada.

Under Canadian law, human trafficking can occur inside or outside of our own borders. It is well known that we have one of the lowest age of consent laws in the world. This circumstance makes 14- and 15-year-olds vulnerable to sexual predators. The advancement of Bill C-22, on age of protection, will go a long way in helping to protect our youth from those who attempt to abuse them.

Other recommendations to advance the support of victims of human trafficking include the creation of dedicated resources and units, which will be multi-jurisdictional, for this type of investigation. We need support from non-governmental agencies to bridge the gap and help victims come forward. We need more training, education, and multi-jurisdictional conferences about issues related to human trafficking. These would be for police, for crowns, for judges, and for NGOs. We need harsher sentencing. Without better long-term solutions, the problem continues to exist: what to do with these people once we find them.

Improved immigration programs would also help, and would include assistance beyond the 120-day reflection period; ongoing access to health care; housing, and specifically immigration facilities dedicated specifically to these victims; educational opportunities for victims, including ESL classes and other training for vocations; work permits; legal assistance; better information; and assistance with repatriation or toward status in Canada.

We also support further research and suggest that tracking those who habitually bring large groups of women and children to Canada should be monitored. We need to track migrant workers who work in areas that are known to be problematic—for instance, strippers and prostitution. We would ask for better follow-up by Immigration in regard to those areas and improved cooperation between the police and Immigration.

Lastly, it's important to make all Canadians accountable, because this problem wouldn't exist here if there wasn't a market for it. It is out there, so why aren't we hearing more about it? There needs to be greater public awareness and education on what it is and how to report it, and we need to keep the issue high-profile.

I'm now going to turn it over to Detective Sergeant Hamel.

[Det Sgt Michel Hamel, Manager , Risk Management and Special Victims Unit, Sex Crimes Unit, Toronto Police Service]

Good morning. Thank you for having us here today.

The focus of the presentation will be the challenges that we face at the local level in terms of enforcing and prosecuting human trafficking offences.

According to statistics released by the RCMP, it is estimated that over 2,000 people are trafficked into Canada every year. At the national level, the RCMP have taken on the responsibility of providing awareness sessions and training to other law enforcement agencies with respect to Bill C-49. Although this is a global issue, the reality is that the municipal police services do have the responsibility of enforcing the law at the local level. Most of the victims of human trafficking will be found in the larger cities, such as Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and surrounding areas.

In most cases, female victims will be discovered during criminal investigations within the sex trade industry, bawdy houses, escort services, massage parlours, and prostitution rings. Another initiative that was undertaken by the Toronto police this year was to create a new unit called the special victims section within the sex crimes unit as a pilot project, and the mandate is to identify and rescue young persons involved in the sex trade industry, to collect and maintain a data bank of known sex trade workers and share this information with other law enforcement agencies, and to investigate criminal acts committed against sex trade workers and provide support to the victims, and this includes victims of human trafficking.

A one-day awareness session is in the planning stage. It will be held in December of this year. It will involve the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency, and the Toronto Police Service. Community agencies that provide assistance and shelter to sex trade workers will also be invited.

I'd like to give you a brief summary of the current situation in Toronto. As the officer in charge of the special victims section, I had the opportunity to meet with the informal leaders of the sex trade industry in Toronto. They are aware of human trafficking victims in the city. Some have sought refuge in shelters in the past and some of them are there now, and that's why we want to have an information session, to develop trust between us and the shelters. However, the fear of deportation exists and victims will not come forward. That's why it is so important to develop this trust, and we recognize that it will take a long time.

We have been getting Crime Stoppers tips about human trafficking victims within the city being exploited through the escort service industry. These allegations were investigated without success because the information was very limited. A matter is currently under investigation in Toronto involving a strip club. The owner had flown to the Philippines to recruit 15 dancers from local strip joints, and we have seen photographs of him and the young females, and these photographs were taken in dirty backrooms of these so-called strip clubs in the Philippines. The owner is now in Canada and he is waiting for immigration papers to be finalized so that his new staff can be flown to Toronto.

I have identified some of the challenges that we are facing in the investigative stages of human trafficking offences, and the number one is housing. There seems to be no plan and/or protocol in place to provide immediate assistance to the victims of human trafficking. Shelters are available, but this would have to be on a short-term basis, and if there are issues of security, the shelters would have to be made aware of this, and most would decline to provide assistance. There are also serious liability issues from all those concerned.

The Canada Border Services Agency enforcement unit will assist, as they normally do, where there are immigration issues. If the victims have status in Canada, there is no policy in place, at least in the Toronto area, to provide any shelter for the victims. If they have no status, the victims can be detained for 48 hours in a holding facility; however, the victims are then treated as suspects, thus jeopardizing any efforts made to gain their trust.

The Canada Border Services Agency usually becomes involved with us in Toronto during the investigation of inmates found in massage parlours and bawdy houses. Their role is primarily to determine the status of inmates in Canada and to provide assistance to us with immigration issues.

The focus has to change for all parties involved. The emphasis should be on the possibility of human trafficking and being a victim of this crime, first, before looking at the minor charge of being an inmate of a bawdy house.

The process of implementing a three-month permit in the Toronto area is not very clear.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Hamel, could you summarize a bit faster, so that we can get through and have questions?

[Det Sgt Michel Hamel]

All right.

I want to talk about what's available in terms of protection for the victims. The witness protection program in Ontario will look after the victims; however, the immigration status will have to be handled by the federal authorities.

I've been advised that the federal witness protection program does not include victims of human trafficking at the present time. Providing shelter and protection might be a good start. It would also provide immediate assistance. What is strongly needed is a quick response plan to accommodate the victims. This is extremely important in terms of the ongoing investigation.

Could I make a couple of recommendations?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Very quickly, Mr. Hamel.

[Det Sgt Michel Hamel]

The three-month reflection permit should allow an extension for court purposes. The court trials can last up to two years. What do you do with the victims in the meantime? Work visas for the entertainment industry should be abolished where there is evidence to show the victims were recruited from the sex trade industry from the country they came from.

In the meantime, the federal witness protection program should be a good start. Funds are available to protect witnesses in organized crime, cases involving drugs and gangs. Victims of human trafficking are witnesses who need protection as well.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Johnston.

[Kimber Johnston, Director General, Policy and Program Development Directorate, Canada Border Services Agency]

I understand you're pressed for time, so I'm going to try to paraphrase my remarks as well.

The Canada Border Services Agency contributes to the fight against trafficking in persons by helping to prevent traffickers from transporting their victims to Canada, by helping to identify foreign nationals who have become victims of trafficking from among the many migration-related cases we process, and by enhancing Canada's intelligence on the nature and scope of trafficking in persons in Canada.

Our unique contribution is in detecting and interdicting irregular migration and the smuggling of foreign nationals to Canada. Trafficking in persons is sometimes confused with migrant smuggling. This can occur because both trafficked and smuggled persons can initially present under what appear to be similar circumstances, and because smuggled persons can become trafficked persons. The difference lies in the following factors that distinguish migrant smuggling from trafficking in persons.

First, migrant smuggling involves migrants who have consented to be illegally moved across international borders. In contrast, either trafficked persons have never consented, or any apparent or prior consent is vitiated by the course of deceptive or abusive actions of their traffickers.

Second, trafficked persons may be trafficked within their own country or across borders, whereas migrant smuggling is always transnational.

Finally, smuggled migrants are free to go upon arrival at the destination state, once payment has been provided, whereas trafficked persons are subject to ongoing confinement and exploitation to generate illicit profits for traffickers.

The Canada Border Services Agency sources believe that many foreign nationals who become trafficking victims were at one point smuggled into Canada. However, not all foreign nationals smuggled into Canada become victims of trafficking. The Canada Border Services Agency can disrupt trafficking in persons activities in the course of its efforts against irregular migration and migrant smuggling. These efforts play out in several ways under the agency's multiple borders strategy, whereby risk to Canadian safety and security is identified and interdiction takes place as far away from our actual borders as possible.

For example, the CBSA has a network of migration integrity officers stationed in 39 countries around the world who provide advice and expertise in the detection of fraudulent, counterfeit, or tampered travel documents and who work with international law enforcement partners to detect trends and patterns in irregular migration. This network has proven to be an effective strategy in reducing irregular migration to Canada. Undocumented or improperly documented arrivals have decreased dramatically since this network was established. In 1990, only 30% of inadmissible persons attempting to gain entry to Canada were intercepted overseas. By 2005, that number had increased to approximately 71%.

CBSA also maintains Border Services officers at 245 ports of entry, who screen approximately 100 million travellers each year seeking entry to Canada. All foreign nationals seeking entry to Canada are screened to ensure they are admissible, have the necessary visa or travel documents, and are entering Canada for a genuine and lawful purpose. To supplement the controls maintained by Border Services officers at the port of entry, CBSA officers work with Canadian and U.S. partners in the integrated border enforcement teams.

Within Canada, CBSA enforcement officers perform investigations with respect to people who are inadmissible to Canada to preserve the integrity of our immigration programs. Approximately 30,000 investigations are conducted each year. CBSA officers may encounter individuals they suspect are victims of trafficking in the course of ongoing investigations into migrant smuggling or, as previously mentioned, in raids on criminal enterprises involving irregular migrants. During these investigations, it is essential to distinguish a possible victim of trafficking in persons from another type of irregular migrant.

Thus the Canada Border Services Agency is currently developing guidelines and training modules to assist front-line CBSA officers in the identification of victims of trafficking in persons and to provide guidance on how to address the special needs of this vulnerable group. The training and guidelines will also address procedures for sharing information and cooperating with partner agencies in the processing of cases of trafficking in persons. The objective is to enhance awareness of trafficking in persons as a CBSA concern, to provide assistance in identifying possible victims, and to provide officers with options to ensure a victim will be protected, including referral of a possible victim to CIC for consideration of a temporary resident permit.

CBSA officers in Vancouver and Montreal have developed innovative community-based approaches to combat trafficking in persons through outreach and awareness initiatives. They have conducted extensive consultations with regional partners to develop protection strategies for victims detected in their regional areas of responsibility, have built relationships with local non-governmental organizations, and have coordinated with the RCMP, municipal police, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada on investigations and intelligence gathering. Their efforts have been productive in developing sources of information by gaining the trust of NGOs and in encouraging victims to come forward to law enforcement.

Before closing, Madam Chair, I would like to identify a few challenges we face in the CBSA in addressing this issue.

A clear challenge for CBSA is in identifying victims of trafficking in persons at the port of entry. As stated earlier, the potential victims may be unaware of what is in store for them, or if they are aware that they are being exploited, they may already be sufficiently intimidated by the trafficker that they refuse to seek help from the authorities. In either case, they may steadfastly deny being victims of trafficking.

Another challenge, as you have already heard from other witnesses, is to obtain reliable and accurate information about the nature and extent of trafficking of persons within Canada. This is attributable to several factors: the difficulty in identifying victims, differences in the reporting methods used, and the constantly shifting nature of trafficking activity itself. The CBSA is committed to working with its partners to obtain an accurate, quantifiable assessment of the volumes of persons trafficked into and from Canada, the countries from which they are transported, the routes and methods used, the activities for which they are trafficked, and their final destinations.

In conclusion, Madam Chair, I can assure you that we are committed to working with our partners in the fight against this crime to ensure that foreign nationals who have become victims of trafficking are treated as victims of crime first and irregular migrants second.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Ms. Johnston.

Mr. Grant.

[Dr. Brian Grant, Director General, International and Intergovernmental Relations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I too will abbreviate my remarks for the sake of time.

I'm very happy to be here to answer any questions regarding CIC's contribution to what is a government-wide response to the issue of trafficking in persons.

The first point I'd like to make is that under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which came into force in 2002, we introduced the first in Canada offence for trafficking. The penalty for conviction is up to life imprisonment or a $1 million fine, which is the highest penalty under the Immigration Act. By comparison, the penalty for people convicted of smuggling people into the country is half that.

The second is that we have participated in a number of initiatives, including a poster campaign and a brochure. I think Department of Justice officials showed you some of the stuff that has been produced. We continue to distribute those posters through our visa offices abroad and through international conferences that we attend.

In the working group, a priority for CIC has been to find ways to assist victims of trafficking within our mandate. As you know, in May 2006, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration released new guidelines for immigration officers that addressed the unique need for immigration status for victims of trafficking.

Under the guidelines, trafficking victims are eligible to receive a temporary resident permit that allows them to stay in Canada for up to 120 days in the first instance. This new measure is designed to help victims escape the influence of their traffickers, identify their need for protection at that point, and help them begin to recover from their ordeal.

Adjusting the immigration status, of course, is not a complete response to trafficking and to trafficking victims, but it is a very important step. We remove one source of anxiety from the victims and we remove one source of potential continuing victimization. They will not be removed from the country and they cannot be threatened with removal from the country.

The temporary resident permit provides victims with a period of reflection so that they can decide on their future course of action. It enables them to stay in Canada while they recover from any physical or mental trauma. It also allows them to consider their options for returning home or the time to decide if they wish to assist in the investigation of the trafficker or in criminal proceedings against the trafficker.

However, it should be noted that, in Canada, victims of trafficking are not required to testify against their traffickers to gain immigration status. The procedures are very different from those of some of the other countries that have brought in provisions.

The temporary resident permit also gives a person access to the interim federal health program, which pays for emergency medical care and for trauma counselling as well, if required.

CIC immigration officers can issue a longer-term temporary resident permit or they can issue a subsequent resident permit in cases where it has been determined that it is in the best interests of the victim and Canada for the victim to remain in Canada for a longer period of time.

The guidelines provide for consultation between immigration officers and law enforcement officers. The nature of this consultation has been misunderstood, I think, by some commentators, so I'd like to clarify the purpose of this. The purpose of this is to assist the immigration officer in making the determination to issue the permit.

The instruction we have given to immigration officers is that they don't have to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is any question that the person is a victim, we're instructing them to issue the permit, but any information they can get at this point will help them to understand the case they're dealing with.

CIC is pleased to say that the initial reactions to the new trafficking guidelines from the NGO community have been positive, including the Canadian Council for Refugees, the Future Group, and the Stop the Trafficking Coalition. We shared the guidelines when they were released, and we're awaiting comments from the NGO community. We're quite happy to work with them to see if we can improve those guidelines in the future. We'd be quite happy to sit down and do that.

We believe that measures such as the temporary resident permit are important because they ensure that protection is more promptly available. The guidelines are intended, however, as a complementary aspect of an overall federal response. That response opens the door to other services that would not be available if the victim did not have immigration status in Canada.

In the first five months since the guidelines were introduced, one temporary resident permit has been issued. There are four other cases of persons who were identified as victims where a permit was offered and the individuals chose to return home. We have no information that anyone has been refused a permit when they applied for a permit.

We're watching the implementation of this very closely and have asked all immigration offices to refer every case of a potential victim to headquarters so that we can track anyone who's coming through.

In closing, I would like to join others to say that it's extremely difficult to know the true extent of the problem. We're doing what we can to put into place systems that will start to track data, so that we can get a better sense of how large this problem is.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you all very much for your excellent presentation and your assistance while the committee grapples with a very difficult issue.

We'll start with our seven minutes, with Ms. Minna.

Seven minutes includes questions and answers. Let us keep everything as concise as possible so that everyone can get a chance to ask some questions.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First of all, I thank all of you. You've given some very good information, you also, Mr. Hamel, with respect to the special victims section you've established. It sounds as if you have a good handle on the situation and are looking at innovative ways of dealing with it.

From my perspective, I see this as.... Unfortunately the law sees the victims criminalized in the system as well. I would personally like to see the victims not criminalized, because I think that's part of the problem in solving the issue. In criminalizing victims, we use doublespeak, in a sense. We use the word “victim” and then we criminalize them. We also call them criminals, in the sense that they can be charged for being found in the situation they're in.

I have a couple of questions, and let me just go across the panel, in the interest of time.

One is from the Vancouver presentation. Do you find that all trafficking involves sexual exploitation or not? You started out mentioning that the woman was forced to work and kept in prison, then was raped and beaten, but the original intent seemed to be to exploit work. Am I right in understanding that?

[Sgt Matt Kelly]

I think the original intent of the person who trafficked the women was to get them to Canada and exploit them sexually for money. That was always the intent. Then, when one refused to do it, she was beaten until she did.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Okay. So when you said “work”, it wasn't some other work.

[Det Michelle Holm]

I understand that human trafficking does involve farm labourers, etc. My sergeant and I work in the vice section, so we're only involved in the investigation of sexual exploitation. We can't really comment on human trafficking beyond that topic.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Okay. I just wondered whether you'd had some experience with whether the trafficking always included sexual exploitation or there were other forms of it. I think there are, but I wasn't sure whether you had any experience to that effect.

[Sgt Matt Kelly]

There are other forms of it, but I think the statistics so far and your previous witnesses, Yvon Dandurand and RCMP Sergeant Lori Lowe, have commented that we believe 92% would be trafficked victims who are involved in the sex trade.

Also, on your commentary around ensuring that victims are treated as victims, I will tell you that in Vancouver we've never charged a female sex trade worker with being found in a common bawdy house. We tell them right off the bat that there are no charges related to them. They're victims, and we're going to treat them as such. Then we deal with our friends in CBSA to speed their process homeward.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

This takes me to a couple of other questions, Mr. Hamel.

You mentioned quite a number of things with respect to immigration. This is also to Mr. Grant. My sense is that a three-month permit is not enough and that some victims don't identify because of the fear of deportation. One of the suggestions I was making in a previous meeting was that the permit would be a temporary work permit given to the victim that would allow them, like any other work permit person, to apply for landed status at some point, which would then allow them.... In addition, of course, you mentioned the problem of housing and trauma counselling, which to some degree, I know, you're already doing.

Looking at the whole issue, is that something that would help to provide security? And Mr. Grant, is it something your department has even looked at? You can both respond.

[Det Sgt Michel Hamel]

That's the main problem when you identify the victims--what do you do with them? They have to be housed, and right now there's nothing in place. As resourceful as we are usually, we will find some accommodation, but it will be on a short-term basis.

However, there are security concerns if the victim is in fear of her life. We have to take the steps to protect her, and it's costly. Who foots the bill is the issue. I've asked around in the Toronto area among all agencies, and there's just nothing in place. We would find something, but it's just not suitable.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

I see.

Mr. Grant, with respect to a proper work permit, as opposed to this 120 days— ?

[Dr. Brian Grant]

The discretion lies with immigration officers to issue the permit. They can issue the permit for any length of time they deem appropriate in the case, and it's very much a case-by-case approach. The guidelines suggest four months--120 days--as a period of reflection.

As part of the process of interviewing the victim, the officer will look at the situation of the victim. If a victim has just escaped from a trafficker who may well be a member of organized crime and is after the person, the best course may not be to give them a work permit and tell them to find a job; it may be offer them a form of protection. That's part of what is taken into account. The officer can issue a longer permit. The permit would be required to be extended beyond six months in order for somebody to apply for a work permit. If the situation is appropriate, the officer can do that.