[Translation]
I wish to begin by expressing my appreciation to the Committee for inviting us to discuss the Government of Canada's efforts to combat human trafficking. There can be no question that human trafficking constitutes a criminal violation of the most fundamental of human rights: the right to life, liberty and security of the person.
I would like to begin by giving you an overview of the situation, then talk a little bit about the interdepartmental working group, and finally, say a few words about our international activities and our bilateral cooperation with the United States.
[English]
Collaboration is integral to the fight against this global scourge. Canada continues to support the efforts of other countries and organizations to eradicate trafficking in persons at both regional and global levels.
At the same time, we recognize that more can and must be done to address this phenomenon, which we know disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable members of our societies, predominantly women and children, and in particular girls.
The clandestine nature of trafficking in persons makes it difficult to ascertain its true magnitude. We know that no country is immune to this crime. The UN estimates that more than 700,000 persons are trafficked globally each year and that human trafficking now constitutes the third most lucrative illicit trade, after drugs and arms smuggling.
While we continue to grapple with identifying reliable data on the extent of trafficking within our own boundaries, we know that Canada is primarily a country of destination for trafficked victims as well as a transit country for trafficking to the U.S.
Asia, Africa, and eastern Europe tend to be primary source regions for persons being trafficked to our country.
In May 2002 we ratified the United Nations protocol against trafficking in persons, which lays the groundwork for international collaboration against human trafficking and also provides an international definition for trafficking in persons. Canada took a lead role in the elaboration of the protocol. The protocol is still relatively new, and Canada's own anti-trafficking objectives are guided by the international, multi-pronged response to trafficking referred to as the three Ps: prevention of trafficking, protection of victims, and prosecution of offenders.
Canada has also ratified other relevant instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and, more recently, the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which addresses the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography.
I'll say a few words about the federal interdepartmental working group. A complex and multi-faceted problem such as this requires a multi-sectoral response. The federal interdepartmental working group on trafficking in persons was established first in 1999 to coordinate Canada's negotiating positions on the text of the trafficking and smuggling protocols. In 2004 the working group's mandate was expanded so that it could act as the focal point within the federal government to coordinate responses for combatting trafficking in persons.
The working group brings together seventeen different departments and agencies. It's co-chaired by me and Carole Morency. Some of our key partners include the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Human Resources Development Canada, RCMP, CBSA, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Status of Women, and CIDA.
The working group provides a forum for information exchange between government departments and agencies, fosters a whole-of-government approach, and ensures that the Government of Canada has a coordinated domestic and international approach to this issue. The group is also committed to collaborating with the provinces, territories, and civil society.
I have a couple of quick examples.
In May 2005, the Government of Canada organized the Pacific Northwest conference on human trafficking in Vancouver, which brought together policing organizations, victim service agencies, government officials from federal, municipal, and provincial levels, and NGOs to talk about solutions to the problem. A similar conference is being planned for Atlantic Canada from November 6 to 8 in Halifax.
I might also mention that a representative from the Government of B.C. joined a federal delegation to Venezuela in March 2006 to share provincial experiences and best practices on how to combat human trafficking within OAS member states.
With regard to international activities, as I mentioned earlier, in recognizing the importance of collective global action, Canada actively encourages countries to ratify the convention I mentioned earlier, the UN convention against transnational organized crime and its trafficking protocol, and the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child that I mentioned concerning the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography.
We also participate in multilateral and regional fora, such as the OAS, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the regional conference on migration, the UN, and the G-8, of course, to negotiate resolutions that will reinforce international commitments. We also work within those groups to develop and respond to questionnaires on activities to combat trafficking and to develop guidelines with a goal of improving regional cooperation and improving the understanding of the extent of this problem.
I might also mention that since 1996 Canada has been a donor to the International Labour Organization's international program for the elimination of child labour. This program operates in over 75 countries.
We support efforts to raise awareness among source countries abroad in an effort to prevent trafficking from happening in the first place. In this regard, my own department provides program support to combat trafficking internationally through the human security program as well as through our $2 million annual contribution agreement with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, which is located in Vienna. They support the implementation of international legal instruments covering this crime. They also do a lot in terms of raising awareness.
I have a couple of other examples.
We have partnered with the International Organization for Migration, which is disseminating an animated drama video, called Shattered Dreams, that is aimed at raising awareness among vulnerable adolescents to the risks associated with trafficking. The video is being used in local communities in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
We've also funded anti-human trafficking workshops through the OAS in Haiti, where our RCMP colleagues made a presentation on investigative techniques to the Haitian police force.
We supported the IOM to organize a workshop for government and private media partners, with the objective of sensitizing the media to report the reality of trafficking in persons in Central America and Mexico.
Our Canadian embassies abroad are also active proponents in this fight. For example, I might just mention that over the past year our embassy in the Ukraine hosted and provided financial and logistical support for two training seminars on human trafficking. They did this in cooperation with the OSCE, Ukrainian NGOs, and Ukrainian government officials.
Our embassy also supported training by the IOM's newly established centres for migrant advice. This training was for call centre operators across the Ukraine regarding requirements for legally working in and immigrating to Canada; thereby, again, increasing knowledge and awareness and supporting the prevention of trafficking to Canada.
CIDA supports the prevention of trafficking by addressing many of the factors that contribute to the vulnerability of people to being trafficked or involved in commercial sexual exploitation by addressing causes such as poverty; gender inequality; children's rights and protection; discrimination; and other factors, such as poor governance.
In the last decade, CIDA has funded and supported significant anti-trafficking initiatives using bilateral, multilateral, and local mechanisms in all regions--eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Finally, I'll say a few words concerning bilateral cooperation with the United States.
Government officials cooperate very closely with our U.S. counterparts, and we are currently developing a joint assessment to better understand the cross-border nature of human trafficking and identify areas for potential future collaboration.
The assessment is due to be presented at the cross-border crime forum in November of this year--next month--that is taking place in North Carolina. It is also a component of the security and prosperity partnership between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada that calls for enhancement of efforts to combat smuggling and trafficking.
I think I'll stop there and turn to my colleague from the Department of Justice to talk about Canada's accomplishments from a domestic perspective.
Thank you.
Trafficking in persons has often been described by many as a modern-day form of slavery. To understand that, we need to have a clear understanding of what kind of conduct we're actually talking about.
Human trafficking involves three key elements.
First, it involves a physical act; namely, the recruitment, transportation, or harbouring of a person across international borders, or within borders.
Second, it involves the use of such means as threats, force, coercion, or deception. With respect to children, although it's irrelevant whether any such means are used, they nonetheless often involve the abuse of power or position of authority over the child or the giving or receiving of consideration to obtain the consent of the person who has authority over that child.
The third key element is that it's carried out for the specific purpose of exploiting its victims, usually for sexual exploitation or for forced labour.
It is the means--principally coercion--and the exploitative purpose that distinguishes trafficking from similar crimes such as human smuggling and makes it so abhorrent, whether a person is forced to work in a garment factory, on a farm, or as a domestic servant or to perform sexual services. No matter the form of human trafficking, it's always an affront to human dignity and a fundamental violation of their human rights.
There are many different types of exploitation involved in human trafficking, such that it has been linked to other issues, for example, prostitution. And although there are some linkages between human trafficking and prostitution, particularly when we're dealing with child prostitution, there are differences that warrant treating the issues separately.
Adèle has already outlined the magnitude of human trafficking as we understand it domestically and internationally, which makes us appreciate even more the importance of having a strong, coordinated domestic response in place.
Canada recently strengthened its criminal justice response to trafficking. In November 2005 Parliament enacted the former Bill C-49. These new Criminal Code offences created an important step towards strengthening our ability to protect victims of human trafficking by ensuring that Canada's legal framework clearly recognizes and strongly denounces and deters this terrible crime.
[Translation]
It does this by creating three new indictable offences to better address human trafficking—in whatever form it may manifest itself.
To begin with, the main offence of trafficking in persons prohibits anyone from engaging in specified acts, such as recruiting, transporting, harbouring or controlling the movements of another person for the purpose of exploiting or facilitating the exploitation of that person. This offence is punishable by up to life imprisonment, reflecting its severity and its harmful consequences for its victims and Canadian society.
[English]
Secondly, Bill deters those who seek to profit from the exploitation of others by making it an offence to receive a financial or material benefit knowing that it results from the trafficking of persons. This offence is punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment.
[Translation]
Thirdly, Bill C-49 prohibits the withholding or destroying of travel or identity documents in order to commit or facilitate the trafficking of persons. This offence is punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment.
[English]
Bill reforms will strengthen our current responses to trafficking by building upon existing provisions in the Criminal Code that already address trafficking-related conduct, such as forcible confinement, kidnapping, sexual assault, and aggravated sexual assault, and these reforms also complement the trafficking-specific offence that exists in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Bill C-49's new criminal offences, together with the existing offences, provide a broader framework for all criminal justice personnel with a significantly enhanced ability to ensure that the offence charged is the one that best responds to the facts of each trafficking case.
The federal government is also addressing human trafficking through other non-legislative measures, which is a reflection of the reality that an effective response to such a problem requires not only a strong legal framework but also multi-sectoral collaboration to ensure that victims are protected and to enhance our awareness and understanding of the problem.
For example, in 2006 the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration introduced measures to strengthen Canada’s response to the unique needs of trafficking victims who find themselves in Canada but are foreign nationals. These measures include guidelines that will assist immigration officers in issuing short-term temporary resident permits to trafficking victims for a period of reflection of up to 120 days, and this permit can be renewed. Victims are also exempted from the temporary resident permit processing fee and given access to the interim federal health program to ensure that they receive the medical attention they need, which could include emergency health services and trauma counselling.
The government has also undertaken numerous awareness-raising measures within Canada. For example, we have a website on trafficking in persons that can be accessed through the Department of Justice website. The website provides useful information for the public, describing the problem and providing related links.
[Translation]
Public education and awareness is being fostered through the development and broad dissemination, within Canada and through Canadian embassies, of a poster—available in 17 languages—and an information pamphlet—available in 14 languages—to help prevent human trafficking victimization.
[English]
We have brought with us a sampling of those materials to leave with the committee. These have been really widely disseminated and sought as materials for persons organizing conferences.
Professional training and education about human trafficking and enforcement-related issues is under way and began with a training seminar in law enforcement in March 2004, co-hosted by the Department of Justice and the International Organization for Migration. A similar seminar was held in May 2005 in Vancouver, hosted by the RCMP, and another will be held in November 2006 in Nova Scotia.
As you have already heard from Adèle, we've supported prevention and awareness efforts in source countries, and we continue to look to build partnerships here at home and abroad. The interdepartmental working group on trafficking in persons is committed to our mandate to continue to coordinate all federal anti-trafficking measures, and we continue to work with our provincial counterparts and civil society to ensure an effective, comprehensive response to this terrible crime.
With that, I will end my remarks. We will be happy to answer any questions the committee may have.
:
Thank you for coming today. We're really glad you're here.
I'm very pleased that trafficking in persons is a topic we're studying at the Status of Women committee. In my opinion, it's long overdue.
The significant thing about trafficking in persons is the lack of knowledge that the public, the police, and everybody in general has about it. What is happening now is a new awareness. In 2004, the Ukrainian Congress women put down a resolution at the UN saying stop the trafficking of persons.
Last week, at a homeless centre in Toronto, I was talking to a young woman. The police did not believe her when she told them she was trafficked. The pimp said she is doing this of her own volition. She had just turned eighteen.
All of these challenges are there before us as a society.
Having said this, the other element is that people who are trafficked internationally usually do not know the English or French language. They usually are threatened, and they usually don't trust police, depending on the country they come from.
You're working together with many other organizations. What do you think the most important thing is that we need to get out there? Is it a combination, maybe? It might be education or it might be more police resources. In your opinion, what do you think is very important on the street today to stop this horrific crime?
A third question is related to data gathering. Traditionally, over the past decade, money has not been put into the gathering of data on this horrific issue, although we know on the ground from NGOs, police officers, and everybody else that it's happening in more cases than we care to admit.
Could you comment on these three things?
:
Thank you for that question.
In terms of work at the international level, certainly one of the most important elements is, on the one hand, awareness raising, getting the message to particularly the most vulnerable, the young children and girls, about what to watch out for, what to be suspicious of, and, on the other hand, what their rights are, and who is available to protect and assist them.
That is why, for example, at the international level we do work quite closely with the International Organization for Migration. They have a very good track record in working with the grassroots organizations, the NGOs, in countries such as Ukraine, as I mentioned earlier, to assist civil society in helping these vulnerable victims and in awareness-raising activities. So certainly at the international level that is something we very much prioritize, including here in our own hemisphere, in the Americas.
In terms of data gathering, I'll ask my colleague to speak about the Canadian situation, but at the international level this is a very important challenge. We here in Canada have our own problems, but those problems are certainly found in every single country. It's not restricted to one. Our G-8 partners face the same difficulties and challenges we do just because of the nature of the problem--the very delicate line, as was just mentioned, between prostitution and trafficking, and how the problem is identified and addressed.
:
Within the context of a domestic response, just to echo what Adèle said, prevention is a huge issue for us. We have focused a lot of our preliminary efforts federally on getting that message out locally. Absolutely there's more we need to do, and will continue to do, in partnership with our partners on the ground. We do continue to work on that.
As was mentioned earlier, the three Ps--protection of victims, prevention, and prosecution of offenders--is really the international standard. Those three remain the key priorities for us domestically as well. The protection of victims, then, with the announcement by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in May of 2006 about the guidelines, was a huge step forward for us.
Again, clearly there's much more we need to do. Within the criminal justice sector we continue to work through various federal, provincial, and territorial fora to keep the issue on the table, including with heads of prosecution and directors of victims services. There's much we can do federally to keep the issue on the agenda, but there's also much we need to do very much in partnership with provinces and NGOs to make further inroads.
On data collection, what Adèle said about issues internationally is true for us here. The clandestine nature of the conduct in question makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to get real data on this. If we look to other areas where we have experience here in Canada--i.e., sexual assaults and spousal abuse--we have some statistics there, but everybody who's worked in that area will say that we all estimate those to be incredibly below the real numbers.
, the IRPA offence, and those types of specific offences addressing human trafficking will help us a bit in terms of trying to track those specific offences. We will continue to need to look at related types of conduct; a case that may not be identified by somebody as a trafficking case clearly is, once you look at the facts.
In terms of our law enforcement, you've heard from the RCMP already. I think the CBSA will be appearing as well, and they can speak to efforts they can and are taking domestically to enhance their ability to keep data on these numbers.
So there's a lot more we need to do, but there are huge hurdles in terms of trying to get to the real numbers that we would all like to have.
:
We've run out of time at this particular point. I want to thank Ms. Dion and Ms. Morency so very much for so much information this morning.
We will be seeing the video you have mentioned, either as a group or individually. I very much look forward to seeing it.
Thank you very much for your help. We will continue to work on this very important subject.
To the committee, we have a couple of little things here that I want to bring to your attention. When we voted on votes 110 and 115, I needed to also have moved a motion that asks, shall the chair report the main estimates to the House?
Is everyone in agreement?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: All right.
I wanted to bring to your attention the schedule of meetings that you all have. On Thursday we have Richard Poulin from the University of Ottawa and Leslie Ann Jeffrey from the University of New Brunswick.
There was a third individual to appear. It was Victor Malarek, who was supposed to be here, actually. He has been called to British Columbia, so he won't be here.
I wanted to bring to your attention the special meeting on GBA, which is on a Monday at 3:30. It was the extra meeting we agreed to have on gender-based analysis to which we asked the deputy ministers of the various departments to come. We agreed to do that. It's on your schedule for November 6 at 3:30.
It will be distributed to those of you who do not have it.
When we start on Thursday, we will ensure that we all have the exact documents at the very beginning—Monday, November 6, at 3:30—to deal with the gender-based analysis.
Are there any other issues?
Ms. Smith.