Thank you.
I'd like to focus my remarks first on the need for clear expectations in the application process for the temporary resident permit, and secondly, very briefly speak to some areas where Canada can help in the prevention of human trafficking.
When a woman comes forward to identify herself as trafficked, it needs to be made clear that she will not be criminalized in the interview process: for example, should she identify that she told a lie when she applied for the visa into Canada, that it be understood by CIC that this person was probably already under the control and manipulation of traffickers.
It also needs to be made clear in the process that the trafficking survivor will not be required to testify against the traffickers in a court of law if they do not feel able to do so. While it's certainly desirable to prosecute the traffickers, and we would continue to encourage efforts around that, this must not be the condition of receiving a temporary resident permit, an extended temporary resident permit, or even permanent residency in the long run.
In addition, clarity is crucial in the existing definition of trafficking and its basis for the decision-making process, so that people can be properly advised to apply or not to apply for a temporary resident permit. In the case of one woman who was applying, the CIC officer suggested she would probably not receive the TRP because she had gone back to her country of origin only to renew the exotic dance visa. This seems to be moving off the existing definition to other issues, ignoring the original circumstances that brought her to Canada.
Finally, in order to ensure that the human rights of each possible survivor have been protected, it's necessary to have a vehicle to address any concerns about how the merits of a case have been assessed. Such an important process should not be dependent upon the luck of the draw in getting a CIC official who is well trained and sensitive to the problems encountered by trafficking survivors. Yet we know that CIC officials and many RCMP officers have had little or no training about how to deal with cases of human trafficking.
Also, if a judgment of the CIC official rules against granting a TRP, we have been told there is a provision for an appeal but no funding to accompany it. Therefore, we would recommend a fully funded appeal process that would help to ensure the original process does what it's intended to do, protect the human rights of trafficking survivors and to help the trafficking survivor make the transition to mainstream Canadian life, if that is what she wishes to do.
Around the area of prevention, we belive more can be done at Canadian embassies overseas during the interview process for exotic dancing visas. Currently, the interview includes a question: “Are you aware that you will have to do a strip act with nudity involved?”
We suggest some additional questions be added to this interview, such as: “Are you aware that the exotic dancers are paid very poorly in Canada, an amount that would not be sufficient to pay for rent or food?” and “Are you aware that in order to make enough money to meet expenses, you will be required to take customers to a back room--often called a VIP lounge--where you will likely be subject to intimate physical contact with the customer, and the more intimate the contact, the higher the financial return?”
Also, embassy officials should be alerted that many women applying for exotic dancing visas are already under the control of traffickers and that this should be taken into account in the interview process.
Finally, we would like to see Canada do more, in a very active way, and take a leadership role to address poverty as the root cause. Trafficking exists because criminal groups see an opportunity to use people whose poverty puts them in often desperate situations. People would not take the risks they do if they had other options to provide for themselves, their children, or their families. Therefore, it's critical to understand poverty as the root cause of trafficking in persons. We also know that poverty is a women's issue and that most victims of trafficking are women. Canada, by signing on to the Palermo Protocol, understood this and must do more to address poverty.
In the brief we submitted--we're assuming you all received it--we have identified some areas where Canada can make a difference in poverty, beyond a committee like this, by negotiating fair trade agreements, increasing foreign aid to poorer countries, and cancelling the debt of the poorest countries, where often trafficking numbers are highest.
We appreciate this effort, and we welcome any questions we may engage afterwards. Thank you.