moved, seconded by the hon. member for Ahuntsic:
That, in the opinion of the House, the trafficking of women and children across international borders for the purposes of sexual exploitation should be condemned, and that the House call on the government to immediately adopt a comprehensive strategy to combat the trafficking of persons worldwide.
Mr. Speaker, today I stand in the House to introduce a motion to address a growing crime in our nation: the trafficking of human beings into our country for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Criminals get rich on the backs of innocent victims, primarily women and children. It often involves organized crime and the drug trade, but ultimately it is all about making money for the criminals involved. It is accomplished through the innocent victims who fall prey to these predators.
I will read for members the motion as put forward:
That, in the opinion of the House, the trafficking of women and children across international borders for the purposes of sexual exploitation should be condemned, and that the House call on the government to immediately adopt a comprehensive strategy to combat the trafficking of persons worldwide.
Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation or harbouring of persons for the purpose of exploitation, typically in the sex trade.
For years the international community has been aware that vulnerable people have been tricked into believing they could find a better life in North America, only to become the victims of a cruel and horrendous deception and land up as prisoners in the sex trade against their will.
These victims have come from the orphanages in Ukraine and from Asia, eastern European countries, Ethiopia and others, but they also come from our Canada and are our Canadian citizens. Young girls aspiring to be models have been known to fall prey to these predators and are transported to outside the country to places such as Milan, where they are forced to pay the perpetrators vast amounts of money to get their documents back so they can return to their homes in Canada.
This money is earned by participating in the sex trade abroad. They are intimidated and victimized to ensure that they follow through on the pimps' demands. Today there are millions of dollars being made off the suffering of these innocent victims.
Young people, women and children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Traffickers use various methods to maintain control over their victims, including forced sexual assault and threats of violence. These victims are treated as nothing more than a commodity.
Human trafficking is dominated by organized recruitment methods initiated through putting ads in the paper proposing jobs as hairdressers, caregivers, domestic workers, models or dancers. As soon as the victims reach the country of destination, their documentation is confiscated by the traffickers and they are immediately placed on the sex market. In Canada, that means nude dancing, prostitution and so on. Those who resist end up in training camps in Europe, in Italy and France. They are raped by procurers and forced to turn 50, 60 or more tricks a day until they are psychologically broken.
According to a variety of international police forces such as Interpol and Europol, human trafficking has become a highly lucrative business.
Canada is a country both of destination and of transit as well as being an originating country. As early as the late 1990s, the Chinese and Vietnamese mafia expanded their operations in brothels in Toronto and recruited young girls from Southeast Asia. The young women who fell prey to this trafficking were purchased for $8,000 or less and sold to their procurers for $15,000. A raid by police of these brothels revealed that this particular procurement ring was providing between 30 and 40 young girls to about 15 brothels in Toronto on a quarterly basis.
I must tell members that, last night and today, officers from Surrey, Coquitlam, Burnaby and Richmond detachments executed 17 search warrants. These raids targeted massage parlours suspected of operating as a front for the sex trade. An RCMP news release says that the operations may be linked to organized crime and human trafficking may be involved.
The UN estimates that over a million people are trafficked throughout the world every year. However, the extent of trafficking into, through and within Canada is not known due to the clandestine nature of the crime and a lack of resources to support police forces, border patrols and non-governmental organizations in distinguishing between trafficked victims and illegal migrants.
In 2004 the RCMP released a strategic intelligence assessment and examined the current and historic trends in human trafficking in Canada. The assessment found that Canada was an attractive destination for human trafficking due to the economy, social assistance programs and other factors.
Following this initial analysis, the first human trafficking charge was laid in 2005 under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This case is still in the courts.
In May 2006 the first national coordination centre was staffed with RCMP officers and a civilian analyst. The RCMP is also aggressively developing initiatives to address victim protection.
In addition, a highly informative video incorporating investigators, academics and NGO leaders who worked with human trafficking was developed to train the RCMP and others to recognize victims and their predators. This is a beginning. However, much more has to be done, and we have to move quickly.
Since elected to Parliament, I have appealed to the Status of Women committee to take on the study of human trafficking. Finally this year the committee consented to study this issue. We have had many credible witnesses come forward to the committee to give us information and advice. Their presentations only confirmed what I already knew and how important it was to put in the support and resources to combat this horrendous crime.
I want to thank my colleague, the member for Ahuntsic, for supporting my motion and for contributing in such a major way at committee as our witnesses made their presentations. Her knowledge and expertise were a great asset to the committee as members listened to the presentations.
I have introduced this motion today because I believe this fast-growing global crime has penetrated our Canadian borders and is growing without the knowledge and awareness of the Canadian public. It is a cancer on our Canadian society and needs to be eliminated.
During my time as a member of the Manitoba legislature, I became acutely aware of the danger of predators luring children over the Internet. At that time, less than a decade ago, the Canadian public was oblivious to the fact that numbers of innocent children were being lured over the Internet and sexually exploited. It was shocking because many of the predators were local citizens in our neighbourhoods, and communities were unaware of what was happening. It was a new type of crime at that time.
I give credit to police forces such as the child exploitation unit in Manitoba, more commonly known as the ICE unit, and organizations such as Child Find, working in collaboration, for putting this crime on the public radar screen. My son was one of the police officers who served in this unit in Manitoba.
Today, parents, teachers and community members across our nation are working with police and other organizations to put awareness programs into their communities so our children can be safe from Internet predators.
We are at the same point in our Canadian history right now regarding the crime of human trafficking. The public at large is relatively unaware of what is happening to hundreds of young women and children from other countries as well as children within our own borders.
In 1999 the Government of British Columbia disclosed the existence of a ring involved in the trafficking of children for purposes of prostitution from its base in that province to cities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the western United States.
In 1999 the U.S. state department stated that young girls from South America and Honduras were engaged in prostitution in Canada and the United States.
In 2001 the report of the U.S. state department stated that some minors of Canadian origin had become victims of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation. That destination was in the United States. The same source also reported that Malaysian women were also engaged in prostitution in Canada. In its report in 2003, it was stated that young girls from Honduras and Slovenia were also trafficked for purposes of prostitution right here in Canada.
The Canadian police have arrested more than 40 people with links to an international prostitution and trafficking ring that sold literally hundreds of Asian women in North America.
The exact number of victims is unknown in Canada at this time. Currently the RCMP estimates that around 800 women and children are being trafficked for the purposes of prostitution per year, but NGOs across the nation estimate the number to be 15,000. This is quite a gap between the RCMP numbers and the numbers from the non-governmental organizations. Very close to our nation's capital, a trafficking ring was taken down in Windsor, Ontario in April of this year.
Clearly my motion today is an appeal to the Parliament of Canada to supply the police forces across our nation with the tools they need to combat this horrific crime, through new laws and law enforcement, but also to support safe houses for the victims of this crime.
Before this can be accomplished, parliamentarians and the public must become more educated and aware that in communities all across our nation innocent victims are being threatened and held against their will. They continue to be violated and remain unnoticed as unknowing Canadians live their daily lives.
I would like to draw attention to the fact that the 2010 Winter Olympics are coming to Canada. Tens of thousands of visitors will visit Vancouver for this occasion. With the Olympics come the traffickers, who import vulnerable girls from all across the globe and from within Canada for the purposes of prostitution. This is what happens across the globe wherever major sporting events take place. It is hidden behind closed doors and no one sees the suffering of these young victims. Traffickers see this as a business opportunity and stand to make a lot of money off the sex trade using the innocent lives of vulnerable boys and girls.
Benjamin Perrin of The Future Group, a non-profit organization created to combat human trafficking, told the Standing Committee on the Status of Women that “the traffickers will see this as a windfall”. We as Canadians need to prepare ourselves for this modern day slavery and make it clear to traffickers that they are not welcome on Canadian soil.
I commend our current government for recognizing the need for action. Our Minister of Citizenship and Immigration brought forth new measures earlier this spring to help victims of human trafficking, first by issuing temporary resident permits for up to 120 days for victims and, second, by providing the necessary support to assist in the healing process.
Our great nation of Canada is about having the opportunity to live in freedom. It is about living in a country where individuals can build productive lives and reach their hopes and dreams. It is about human rights and dignity, which are a necessity for every living human being to have, not only in Canada but in the global community as a whole.
My motion is here today to call on all Canadians to be aware of what is happening and to demand that it be stopped.
My motion is here today to call on all parliamentarians in this House to stand with one voice and do what we need to do to make the laws and provide the resources to police and non-governmental organizations to help battle this horrendous crime.
My motion is here today because as a Canadian citizen and an elected parliamentarian I am aware that it is my duty to speak out and it is my obligation to act.
