Status of Women Committee on March 20th, 2023

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to all our witnesses for joining us today and for the incredible work you all do, day in and day out.

I'll direct my first question to you, Mr. Anson. I'm wondering if you could speak to the biggest challenge that you see, from your experience, related to preventing human trafficking across our borders.

[Daniel Anson]

Thank you for the question.

I would certainly speak to the biggest challenge that we face from an agency perspective, which is that really this is a covert activity that occurs at the border points. It's very rare, if ever, that the evidence or indicators of trafficking in persons present at a port of entry on arrival. Quite frequently, the challenge we face is that a lot of the arrivals could be through otherwise legitimate purposes or for other reasons—for example, temporary foreign workers, temporary resident permits, regular immigration channels or international experience Canada channels. What you tend to see is that there's a legitimate entry into Canada, and then the force, the fraud and the coercion occur afterwards.

In parallel, the increased problem that we face regarding human smuggling only additionally puts people who have been smuggled into Canada further at risk in that it gives a significant amount of leverage and risk to potential traffickers over the person who has been smuggled. For example, they might not necessarily have an actual authorization to work as a foreign national. They might not have control still of their legitimate passport. They might be reliant on fraudulent documents. These are different methods that a trafficker will use to continue that leverage, whether it's promises of family reunification or otherwise.

Really, the challenge for us is that there's only a limited window where the agency can provide an interdiction opportunity at a port of entry where we would immediately separate the trafficker from the victim and ensure that the people who have already been victimized or traumatized are then able to obtain services and support from some of our domestic or federal partners.

To directly answer your question, Ms. Sudds, it's really the fact that there is limited ability for us to directly address and identify, even though we put a significant amount of effort into intelligence reporting and the identification and enumeration of indicators, patterns and trends of trafficking. We then do our best to ensure that this training is distributed to border services officers across the country, is shared across our dedicated expert working group and is systematized within the training given to BSOs at the officer induction course at Rigaud college, as well as in ongoing training to ensure that they're able to identify human trafficking.

That's the challenge we have. We do refer all situations, cases or suspected cases of human trafficking to federal law enforcement partners, be it police of jurisdiction or our partners within the RCMP, but if I had to distill it down to one issue, I would say that's really where we face the greatest challenge in protecting the ports of entry and the access to Canada.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Thank you for that.

Speaking of partners, I'll direct my next question to Superintendent Taplin, or perhaps Corporal Demers if she would like to respond as well.

Taking a look at the national strategy to combat human trafficking, from what I have read over the course of the last week in preparation, I think the evidence shows that we're seeing an increased use of technology when it comes to human trafficking. Of particular concern, I think, is Internet child exploitation.

I'm wondering if you could speak to the work you're doing with respect to child exploitation leveraging technology.

[Supt Kimberly Taplin]

Thank you for that question.

I didn't come prepared today to speak specifically to child exploitation. The expertise in that area rests within a specific area within the RCMP, but I would be happy to endeavour to take that question back and provide a written response for the committee.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Thank you very much.

Can you speak to the leveraging of technology in a greater way with respect to human trafficking in general? I don't want to put you on the spot.

[Supt Kimberly Taplin]

I know that technology is impacting our lives in so many areas. Again, this is one of the areas where we are seeing an increase in the use of technology.

I would like to turn the floor over to my colleague, Corporal Demers. Perhaps she could speak more specifically with respect to human trafficking.

[Corporal Jennifer Demers, National Human Trafficking Section, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Thank you, Superintendent Taplin.

Thank you for this question.

At this time, in our unit I do not personally use technologies. Again, we would be more than happy to get that answer for you in writing to make sure that you get the full scope of it.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Thank you very much. I appreciate that—not to put you on the spot at all.

Ms. Van De Bogart, you spoke about the importance of partnerships, the federal-provincial-territorial tables and the work that is happening with your partnerships. I would like you to share the importance of that collaborative approach in this work. We might not have time, though.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 10 or 15 seconds.

[Michelle Van De Bogart]

Very quickly, we are doing lots of work. Collaboration is important and not only with our partners at the federal-provincial-territorial tables. We heard from survivors in our 2018 consultations across Canada that we need to ensure that we are meeting regularly with our stakeholders as well. I would love to tell you about the webinars we do—

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Please do the next time, yes.

[Michelle Van De Bogart]

—to engage in that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We will now go over to Andréanne Larouche for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the witnesses for being here for such an important study on human trafficking.

I have long wanted to address this issue in committee, as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group to End Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. This year, on February 22, we marked the third annual National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

As most witnesses indicated in their opening remarks, we realize our lack of knowledge and training on this issue and the need to raise awareness. People think that human trafficking is something that takes place outside our borders, but we see that most of the victims are actually Canadian. It happens within our borders. This shows the glaring lack of education and knowledge of the population on this subject.

I will address you first, Mr. Anson, but I invite other witnesses to weigh in.

In 2005, Canada passed a bill banning human trafficking, but traffickers continue to get rich by exploiting people everywhere. Between 2009 and 2018, police departments across the country reported 1,708 cases related to human trafficking. However, as you said, this data likely represents only those cases that have received a police response. Rather, testimony from people who have experienced trafficking and from social service providers suggests to us that the actual number of victims and survivors is much higher.

Do you have more recent data regarding cases related to human trafficking? You said it was difficult to get numbers, but can you give us a more current picture of the situation?

I'll address you first, Mr. Anson, but I invite other witnesses to weigh in so that we have a more current picture.

[Daniel Anson]

I thank the member for her question

I guess I would say at the outset that I certainly appreciate that perspective, and again an appreciation for the statistics is very important.

The CBSA unfortunately does not necessarily have the same domestic mandate in tracking or addressing issues of human trafficking or suspected cases and their prosecution.

We do participate with our police of jurisdiction, national policing partners, in ensuring the continued awareness. The identification of indicators, trends and warnings is shared to inform police of jurisdiction in their domestic investigative processes as well as to provide greater awareness across federal partners of all departments. Therefore, we are definitely recognizing that awareness is absolutely key, aside from our ability to support our domestic policing partners. That is not necessarily something that we track or identify.

Again, the only thing that I would also add to support your question would really be that, based on a variety of different methods of arrival within Canada, people can often be deterred from reporting incidents of human trafficking. It's important to again recognize that many of these people are susceptible to coercion, to fraud and to potential indentured service. In addition, they may be fleeing persecution, natural disasters, dictatorships or discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or colour—whatever that might be—so there might also be a tendency to shy away from reporting certain incidents to authorities based on the fact that they may have arrived from countries where there may not be the same type of trust in their national law enforcement or national security partners.

In terms of the statistics and the ability to address the issue domestically, I would definitely have to defer to our domestic policing partners.

Thank you for that question, madam.

[Michelle Van De Bogart]

Thank you.

If I may just add, my understanding is that you're going to be hearing from Statistics Canada. We work in close collaboration with them to get information, and they will be able to talk to you about more of the statistics in relation to human trafficking. We do know this is an under-reported crime, but from data from 2022, I can share with you today a few high-level statistics. We know that 96% are women and girls. Most of them—91%—knew their traffickers, and one-third of victims were trafficked by an intimate partner.

I know that our colleagues from Statistics Canada will be able to greatly assist you further in that area.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Ms. Van De Bogart, my next question is for you.

In 2019, the federal government implemented a series of new measures to address the problem as part of a national strategy. Can you tell us what the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking has changed?

You gave your collaboration with Statistics Canada as an example, but in the context of this national strategy, have you developed any other partnerships that might be helpful to the work of our committee?

[Michelle Van De Bogart]

Thank you for the question.

Maybe I could highlight a couple of things. I mentioned in my opening statement that the Government of Canada funded 63 projects. Public Safety specifically funded 20 of those projects. The funding has gone to grassroots organizations across the country to work with both victims and survivors. Twelve of those are empowerment projects, and the rest of them are prevention projects. Fifteen of those projects support indigenous people, two of those are indigenous-led and many of them welcome gender-diverse people as well.

Important work is being done. The projects have been going on for between three and four years and, as I mentioned, we're entering our last year of the evaluation. What we will be doing is hearing about both achievements and lessons learned from there. That's one of the areas where I believe we're making a difference.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you so much.

We're now going to pass it over to Leah Gazan.

Leah, you have six minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much, Chair.

My first question is for Superintendent Taplin. We know there are ongoing issues with systemic discrimination and sexual violence in the RCMP. I want to point to an article that was published by the CBC in May 2021, in response to the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action report, which states, “The report says they show evidence of a pattern of discrimination, harassment, and assault against women by officers of the RCMP.”

It goes on, and Pamela Palmater states, “If female RCMP officers are not safe from sexual assaults by male officers, it should be no surprise that marginalized Indigenous women and girls are not safe either”.

I want to point to an article that was published by the CBC in 2015 about Officer Kevin Theriault, in northern Manitoba, who took an intoxicated woman home from her jail cell, with the permission of the supervising officer, to pursue a relationship. I don't have the exact quote, but in light of that the supervising officer said, “You arrested her, you can do whatever the f--k you want to do” with her. This was reported on the CBC.

What's concerning to me is that the RCMP continue to investigate their own allegations of misconduct. I'm wondering what the RCMP is doing to address this kind of grotesque systemic racism and sexual violence that continues to happen, particularly against indigenous women and girls.

[Supt Kimberly Taplin]

Thank you for the question.

The RCMP is one of approximately 150 police agencies across Canada. The national human trafficking section is conducting a national environmental scan that will identify trends, gaps, needs and best practices related to human trafficking investigations and will help to raise awareness.

The first phase of the scan was a file review of RCMP human trafficking cases. The second phase—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I'm sorry. I have limited time. I'm not talking about what the RCMP is doing to address sex trafficking. I'm asking a question about what the RCMP is doing to mitigate and manage their own involvement in sex trafficking. I would point to northern Manitoba and the woman who was taken out of the jail cell as an act of sex trafficking.

That is the question. Thank you.

[Supt Kimberly Taplin]

Thank you for clarifying that question.

I didn't come here prepared to speak to the RCMP actions with respect to internal allegations with respect to how we, in your words, may or may not treat each other internally.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I'll leave it there out of fairness to you. Could you maybe follow up with a written brief? It was a confirmed case of sexual trafficking. It wasn't an allegation; it was confirmed.

We know that in over half of the cases of sex trafficking, no suspect is identified. This was in a report by Statistics Canada on March 1, 2021. We also know that two-thirds of cases result in criminal proceedings being stopped with a decision of stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged.

What is the RCMP doing about this in terms of compiling appropriate evidence so that these cases don't fall through the cracks?

[Supt Kimberly Taplin]

The RCMP endeavours to investigate all reported or found human trafficking cases. We use the tools that are provided. We have recently updated our human trafficking policy. That includes guidance for investigations as well as referrals to victim services.

As I mentioned, we are also updating our human trafficking education awareness products and training. Furthermore, we are working with survivors of human trafficking to strengthen our investigative policies and procedures.