I'd be happy to.
Actually over the past year and a half or so I have been a member of the interdepartmental working group on trafficking in persons, and as a Stats Can representative, I have been working with Canada Border Services Agency, CIC, and the RCMP looking at ways to measure this. Certainly, as we sit around our table, we constantly look at what is the true nature and extent of trafficking in Canada.
We certainly know that Canada is a transit country, but we also are concerned about trafficking within our borders, especially among aboriginal and young aboriginal women. We don't have the statistics at this point. We are currently developing a research and data framework, and we hope in the near future we will be collecting that information.
At the same time, I'd say it's probably the most challenging piece of work I've ever embarked on. It's probably the most hidden of all offences or types of violence against women, just because of the dynamics involved in trafficking in persons and the risk to the victim and having women come forward. But we are moving in that direction. We certainly see it as a priority. I'm sure you've discussed the whole issue of trafficking in persons in Canada; it's something we want to move forward on.