:
Welcome, Ministers. Welcome to all.
Thank you for being with us. It has been a long time, and we really wanted to tackle this issue of human trafficking with the three of you present, because it does concern immigration, security, and justice, and justice is one of our critical areas. Of course, it does affect Indian Affairs, so we hope Minister Strahl will be able to attend at a later meeting.
I understand you have presentations, and I understand the committee is very keen on engaging in a dialogue with the three of you, so if you could keep your remarks as brief as possible, it would be really appreciated. I know we've given you ten minutes. If you take the full ten minutes, I guess we will have to let you take them, because that's your privilege. We have put the speaking order in alphabetical order, but if you want to change the order and you want to start, Minister Nicholson, that will be fine.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to appear before this committee. I'm pleased to be here with my colleagues, the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
[Translation]
Let me start by saying that we share the committee's concern with trafficking in persons and the harm it causes to its victims, their families and our communities.
[English]
As you know, the safety of our community and the quality of life of our citizens is a key priority for the government. This committee's study of the trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation in Canada reflects a shared commitment towards this same goal.
The committee's study, in the 12th report on trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation in Canada, contributes to greater understanding of the nature and scope of this crime. It also provides useful guidance for all levels of government as well as for civil society as we look to strengthen our individual and collective responses against human trafficking in all its forms.
It's timely that we are appearing before you today on this issue. Next week in Vienna the United Nations will host the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, which will bring together an estimated 1,000 participants representing member states from around the world as well as academia and civil society. The Vienna forum is part of the larger UN global initiative to fight human trafficking, which, guided by the UN trafficking protocol, is intended to galvanize international attention and action on this issue.
I am pleased to note that Canada will be an active participant in the Vienna forum, with numerous federal departments participating and working with their colleagues around the world to share experiences, build partnerships, and continue to contribute to the development of international best practices in the fight against human trafficking.
For our part, Canada can take pride in the many measures we have taken to date in combatting trafficking in persons. As we highlighted in the government's response to this committee's report, these measures have been grounded in a clear appreciation of the importance of addressing this issue through a multi-disciplinary strategy.
Our approach focuses on what can be referred to as the four Ps: the prevention of trafficking, the protection of victims, the prosecution of offenders, and partnerships within government and beyond. Since tabling the government response last June, we have taken and will continue to take additional measures to fight human trafficking.
I can tell you that within the Department of Justice, my officials, amongst others, continue to co-chair the interdepartmental working group, the focal point for federal policy development on these issues. In addition, my officials are continuing to work with domestic and international partners to improve our criminal justice response to human trafficking.
For example, over the past year we have been working closely with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to develop advanced training manuals for law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges. This manual is now in its final stage of production and has already been used on a pilot basis for training in Vietnam.
In addition, we are working with the UNODC to develop model anti-trafficking legislation. This project is also near completion and will provide a template for those countries seeking to create their own anti-trafficking legislation. It's clear that the successful implementation of these laws is just as important, of course, as the laws themselves.
Accordingly, my officials continue to work closely with their federal counterparts, including the RCMP, in the delivery of multi-disciplinary training on human trafficking to front-line law enforcement, immigration officials, and victims' services from provincial governments. This training includes a specific component on criminal and prosecutorial responses. Further training will continue to be delivered in Canada throughout 2008.
Our federal partners continue to take steps to improve our responses. For example, as part of the UN global initiative to fight human trafficking, the Department of Foreign Affairs provided financial support for the UN conference on trafficking in children, which was held in Côte d'Ivoire in November 2007.
Madam Chair, we're working to strengthen our responses to this crime through prevention and awareness, through enhancing the ability of law enforcement to investigate and prosecute these crimes, and by better protecting the victims.
We have told you previously about research that we supported to better understand the needs of victims of human trafficking and about awareness pamphlets and posters for potential victims. We will continue to work with our provincial counterparts to strengthen our responses.
In addition, I should point out to you that over the next four years, $52 million will be allocated to support the needs of victims of crime.
Before ending, I want to note that the approach I have outlined above will form the foundation of our continued work on this issue, which will take into account human trafficking and the 2010 Olympics.
[Translation]
In closing, Madam Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you again.
[English]
We'll continue to gain strength and confidence in our approach as we build on our experiences.
I thank you for this opportunity.
:
Madam Chair, thank you for that bit of advice. I understand that committee members would like to have a lot of time. That is what I want too.
My comments will reflect the importance that we attach to the subject matter of today's meeting. I also want to congratulate committee members on their work. When we realize the terrible effect these crimes have on victims, we understand how very important your study is.
[English]
I'll just give you a brief overview of how we look at this from a policing point of view and from a security point of view.
The 33 recommendations that came from your study and from your report have served in a number of ways to guide us in terms of how we conduct various operations that are within the agencies and the purview of public safety. A lot of those recommendations were discussed today, and if there's more information you need, I can forward it to you, but you'll find they are kind of woven into the work that we have done.
When you look at the importance of the issue, how we have looked at it over the last two years since forming a government has paralleled that. For instance, we've increased by $6 million the amount of money to go to the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre. If committee members would like to view that centre, Madam Chair, I make that opportunity available. You would be quite impressed with what goes on there, with the high-tech nature of it, and also the high level of dedication of the officers who work in incredibly demanding and sometimes excruciating situations. There's also the Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre within the RCMP for the purpose of coordinating the various activities.
As my colleague has just said, we've also tried to categorize the issues of safety and security into four areas: protection, prevention, prosecution, and the fourth, one that the RCMP and various areas of my department are charged with, the whole area of partnerships. We try to work in a coordinated way with about 18 different departments. You can imagine that that would be a challenge, but on an issue like this, I think people are motivated to put aside the issues that are related to silos and really work together.
In terms of the border itself, we've increased the number of border officers across the country, and we are in the process of hiring 400 more. All of the new hires and the existing ones get specific training related to the issue of human trafficking. In the last year, we've increased funding by $24 million for the integrated border enforcement teams, IBETs. Through these, our officers work in conjunction with officers on the other side of the border. They are also specifically trained and geared towards being attentive and attuned to what to look for as signs of possible human trafficking. There is much increased activity focusing on the issues you're concerned with here today.
Around the world, through CBSA, we have 44 migration integrity officers in 39 different locations. They are specifically trained and sensitized to the area of human trafficking to be able to prevent it, or, if there is going to be a prosecution, to be careful and fully informed of the protocols to make sure that prevention would take place or that those prosecutions would be successful.
In your report, you talk about the importance of national awareness in a number of different places. The RCMP is working with Crime Stoppers to develop, specifically for the area of human trafficking, education and awareness programs to provide the capability to have people call in for information if they are threatened, at risk, or aware that others may be at risk.
There's a high degree of cooperation going on there with local agencies across the country. This is the type of thing that, as you know from your study, can't be done just from a tower in Ottawa if we're going to combat it successfully. We have to be energizing and funding local groups and local organizations who know what's going on, on the street, and who can communicate back and forth to the various agencies.
As my colleague has indicated—and we'll also hear more about the IRPA from my colleague—there have been some modifications made to the Criminal Code to directly address the area related to human trafficking. That equips our officers to be able to move in, in an effective way, in this particular field.
You are right to be concerned about the 2010 Olympics. I can tell you that the amount of work that's obviously going into security in general for the Olympics is very extensive and detailed. This also involves our international partners, and it has involved some careful study of other international events in the past years. There's always the potential of problems related to human trafficking at a globally attractive event like the Olympics.
If there's a positive to this, we find, in looking at the events themselves and in doing significant criminal studies of past events—Olympics, G-8 meetings, large events like World Cup soccer—that in fact, because there is so much focus on security and because there is a higher level of scrutiny of people coming into the country, such as passports, visas, and other things, there's not a giant blip upwards in the particular activity of human trafficking related to a specific event. The possibilities are there. The concerns are there. There are related activities that have to be watched out for. But because there is such a focus on security itself, it has a deterring effect.
Having said that, our officers in the security, planning, and prevention process are very vigorous and very robust in relation to the Olympics. That's a message we're sending out to our partners, but we're also sending it out to those who might be thinking about being engaged in that type of activity.
I want to thank you again for your work and give you all the time you need to ask us the questions and give us the advice we need to make sure we're doing all we can to protect Canadians, especially in the particular area of your study here.
Thank you.
:
Thank you. I would like to thank the committee for inviting us here today to address the very important issue of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Our government is taking real action to combat human trafficking while assisting its victims.
And that is why we continue to examine ways to further improve our actions in this regard. Let me begin by sharing with you some of the initiatives of my own department, Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
[English]
My department's initiatives to target human trafficking aim, first of all, to protect the victims of the crime. To build on our ongoing anti-trafficking efforts, we've taken several important steps to increase protection of victims of human trafficking.
In May 2006, for example, my predecessor, the Honourable Monte Solberg, introduced a fee-exempt, 120-day temporary resident permit for individuals who've been preliminarily assessed to be victims of human trafficking.
The intent of this initial temporary resident permit, TRP for short, was to allow victims of trafficking in Canada to escape their traffickers and feel secure in the knowledge that they have legal status in Canada. Although this was an important improvement with respect to what we had before, we recognized that more needed to be done.
That's why last June, in response to concerns raised by stakeholders and by the standing committee, I was pleased to extend the fee-exempt temporary resident permit from 120 to 180 days. This was an important change, and it allowed victims to apply for a work permit, an option that wasn't available to them under the 120-day permit.
A valid work permit, of course, gives the victims the opportunity to earn a living in Canada while they consider their options. During that time, the victims can access health care services, including trauma counselling, under the interim federal health program. Similar to the initial TRP, the initial work permit is fee-exempt.
The TRP also allows victims time to reflect and consider, for example, whether they want to return home or apply to stay in Canada and whether they want to assist officials in investigating and prosecuting the traffickers. Victims can also apply for extensions of the permit.
[Translation]
Madam Chair, it is important to note that, through all of these procedures, immigration officers are instructed to treat the individuals that come forward as victims, not as criminals.
Victims are not required to participate in a criminal investigation or testify against accused traffickers in order to receive the Temporary Resident Permit.
This Government believes that these guidelines provide us with the necessary flexibility to respond in a timely fashion to evolving issued surrounding trafficking in persons.
[English]
Madam Chair, our approach to confronting human trafficking doesn't stop with protecting victims. Prevention is also key. One way to prevent trafficking is to use the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or IRPA, as we call it, as a basis for refusing entry to foreign nationals who are destined for such situations. That's exactly what we did by introducing Bill . If it becomes law, Bill C-17 will help prevent vulnerable temporary foreign workers, including exotic dancers, from being abused, exploited, or possibly even becoming victims of human trafficking. This legislation will give me the authority, as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to instruct immigration officers to deny work permits to vulnerable foreign workers who could be subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment, including sexual exploitation, in Canada.
[Translation]
This legislation will help ensure that Canada's immigration system is not used by criminals to victimize people.
For those people applying to enter our country, Canada represents hope, safety and a new start. This is one more measure that helps ensure that this hope is not shattered through exploitation, and that the expectation of safety within Canada is preserved.
[English]
Without this legislation, immigration officers cannot deny a work permit to someone who meets all the requirements to enter Canada, even if the officers believe there is a strong possibility of exploitation or abuse. Strengthening the minister's authority would provide the Government of Canada with a tool to respond to situations in which a permanent applicant could be at risk. Essentially, the current rules allow officers to refuse work permits based principally on present status or past record—for example, cases in which the applicant has a communicable disease or criminal convictions.
The proposed amendments will allow an officer, according to instructions issued by the minister, to refuse a work permit based on reasonable concern for what will happen, namely, that the person could be in danger of being trafficked, exploited, or degraded once in Canada. Immigration officers would make their decisions on a case-by-case basis, and each application for a permit would be assessed on its own merit.
The proposed changes could be used to prevent abuse in a number of possible scenarios, which could include low-skilled labourers and exotic dancers as well as other potential victims of human trafficking. For example, some applicants for work permits may be inexperienced, without a support network, or overly dependent upon their employer. In many situations, this would not be a problem. In some situations, however, this could lead to humiliating and degrading treatment, including sexual exploitation. Where there's evidence that these concerns are serious and well founded, ministerial instructions would provide the government with a mechanism to protect applicants from the abuse and exploitation they might otherwise experience.
In short, Bill would give us another tool to help stop trafficking at our borders and prevent foreign nationals from becoming victims of this heinous crime. It would seem to me that in Bill C-17 we have a real opportunity to ensure that additional protections are provided for vulnerable women and children subject to sexual exploitation and abuse. I urge all individuals and stakeholders concerned with fighting human trafficking to encourage the opposition to support the swift passage of Bill C-17.
[Translation]
As I mentioned in my opening remarks, our government is committed to taking real action to combat human trafficking, while assisting its victims.
[English]
While we're working hard to continue our efforts to combat human trafficking, we recognize that more can, and indeed must, be done. In this regard, I look forward to hearing from stakeholders and concerned citizens about how best to proceed.
[Translation]
Thank you, Madam Chair.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Ministers, for coming today. This is an area that has been very important for us, so we appreciate the time you're giving us.
To Minister Finley first, I appreciate the changes you've already made with respect to the 120 days to 180 days and the support services to victims and the ability for them to apply for landed status during that process so that they can choose to stay in the country, which is one of the things we had recommended.
One of the things, though, that you just mentioned with respect to Bill was the stopping at the border. My question is twofold. Have there been any changes with respect to the criteria for immigration? A lot of these women should be able to come in here as legitimate immigrants. The problem is, in many cases the criteria and skills training criteria prevent them. They don't fit any of the criteria we have, and it's very hard for them to come in. We need to look at the immigration structure to make sure it's more sensitive.
The other question is, of course, about the live-in caregivers, who to some degree face a lot of abuse as well. It goes unnoticed and unreported most of the time because women are very vulnerable. Again, it's women. One of the things we were looking at was that the immigration criteria keep out women who are in desperate need, financially, to immigrate, as men do, to be able to come to this country legitimately rather than having to figure out ways around that and come in, in other ways.
:
Those are two very important issues that you raise.
Naturally, all of our immigration laws are gender neutral, so anyone applying to come here, whether they are male or female, is evaluated on the same criteria. If they are coming here to work, the same criteria are applied. There are criminal security issues, health issues--because, after all, our number one job is to protect those who are already here.
That being said, all of the other avenues that are available, are available to women who might be subject to human trafficking, things such as humanitarian and compassionate grounds, refugee status--if that applies to them--and they're free to apply through those streams. As well, we have the temporary foreign workers program and a wide range of other programs that we've put in place to help people come to this country and succeed here.
One of the important things with the changes we made is that by extending to 180 days the TRP that's issued to people who are deemed to be at risk of human trafficking, we allow them to work here, and once they're allowed to work with a work permit, it helps them settle in. It helps them become self-reliant. It helps them to create ties here. One of the challenges that many of these women have, however, is that they don't have much money when they get here.
:
I'm sorry, Minister, I don't want to be rude, but I have so much time and I have a few more questions. Some of that information we know about, because we've studied it. No offence to you, but I just need to get to some questions.
Just to move on, the Immigration Act should be looked at a bit more with respect to facilitating more women to apply legitimately.
The other thing, just to go to another minister now, is with respect to the motion with the Olympics and trafficking, which was made, by the way, by the Liberal committee on this side. I want to ask a question. I'm not sure, but I think this has to do with the issue of charging.
The core recommendation, probably the strongest of this committee, had to do with decriminalizing the women in prostitution and charging the users. That's recommendation 6 in our report. I didn't see that anywhere in your response, and I'm wondering whether or not you're even considering going in that direction. That's really fundamental to how we deal with the exploitation of women and the exploiters, or the purchasers. We criminalize the victims right now in our system.
Trafficking isn't just women coming from outside of Canada. There is trafficking of women from within Canada, aboriginal women and others, in and out of the country and within the country. That's a big issue.
Could you address that, please? I think probably Minister Nicholson or Minister Day....
:
I'll let my colleague address the issue of your suggested changes to section 213 of the Criminal Code. In recommendation 6 and recommendation 7, you also talk about the purchase of sexual services. From a policing point of view, I'll let Minister Nicholson comment on changing the law itself.
There would need to be some pretty broad discussion. In looking at that recommendation, I appreciated that the focus should not be on the women who are in a bawdy house, to use the criminal justice term you referred to, but the people who are actually running and profiting from the place.
Then you want to move it away from those who are being victimized, and I think that's appropriate and valid. From a policing point of view, that's where the guidelines need to be really clear, if police are to do investigations, make decisions on who is to be charged, or if they want to follow through and pass that on to the prosecutorial arm.
In terms of the intent in breaking the law, as I've looked at different documentation and seen documentaries on the problem of the selling of sexual services, it would seem to me there are two groupings of individuals. There are those who have truly been victimized; these would be people who have been forced or extorted to do this, out of fear, by some of the most malicious things imaginable, or they are drug addicts who have been forced because of their addictions. Then I've seen interviews with those who are almost indignant to be accused of being victims and who are quite happy with their work.
So I'm just saying this is where our officers would need guidance.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, ministers, for joining us this morning.
I am concerned more specifically about one component of Bill . Earlier, we talked about measures taken to assist persons already in the country, that is those who have crossed the border and are found to be victims of abuse or human trafficking. Persons turned away at the border would likely be sent to other countries where no legislation is in place to govern human trafficking.
Have measures been taken to prevent a situation where these persons end up in a country where they are even worse off and where they would still be victimized? Just because they are refused entry into Canada does not mean that they will be sent back to their country of origin and resume their lives there. Have any agreements been concluded with other countries?
Mr. Nicholson, you stated that you have been working with the United Nations.
Mr. Day, you said that you are working with different groups.
Will measures been taken to help these persons?
:
That is a good question. To stop traffickers and others from committing crimes, information must be disseminated. People arriving in the country receive several pamphlets. For example,
[English]
for live-in caregivers, we have a pamphlet that we give them concerning the program and their rights under it, and there's information available on our website, and we have information that's distributed at our Canadian missions overseas.
For exotic dancers we provide materials that outline their rights as workers and the obligations of their employers, because many times they're not aware of them. We make sure these are distributed by visa officers at the point of entry.
In the case of all temporary foreign workers, we send them a letter when we give them their permit that explains their rights to them.
We have numerous brochures and posters to raise awareness, not just for the victims as they enter the country but also for the law enforcement officers, such as the immigration officers and the RCMP, to remind them and make them aware of the importance of this. We even have a booklet called Don't Become a Victim of the Illegal Trade in People. It's available in 14 languages and is distributed around the world. There are many others.
:
At the G-8 meeting of public safety and security ministers, we made this a priority. We've done this for the last two years, first in Moscow and then in Munich. There's been agreement among these countries. We are also vitally tied in with the United Nations and their protocols regarding human trafficking. That's why we've increased our own capabilities.
In Canada, we've increased not only the number of officers but also the training programs. We can't tell another country how much funding they should commit, but it is helpful when we point out that our funding is increasing. It encourages our partners to do the same. We contribute, as do many other nations, to Interpol, and we work closely with Europol.
I can tell you that the level of concern about this problem is genuinely shared. It's not something that we needed to alert people to. But there are countries that could be more aggressive in letting it be known, through sanctions, that they take this seriously.
That's why I appreciate some of the recommendations having to do with sanctions and assistance to victims. This should be reflected in our legislation, our training, and our funding. We communicate this freely and share information with other policing agencies, and this high level of cooperation is helping to push back this area of trade. In certain parts of the world, it's fair to say that it exploits young people to a degree that makes it almost epidemic.
:
Minister Day and I will both address that because we're both involved.
We set up the TRP program to remedy exactly the kinds of situations you describe. It was meant to give women the opportunity to take some time and figure out what they want to do—with some safety, with some security, with health benefits. This would put them in a better position to decide where they want to go.
We're trying to get through Parliament as a means to prevent trafficking and keep these women out of situations in which they could be abused. Right now it's being stalled. The committee is not addressing it. We were due to hear from several groups, including the Stop the Trafficking Coalition, the Salvation Army, and the Future Group. This week, they were mysteriously de-invited from attending, and the issue was dropped from the agenda.
We'd like to see the legislation put through as quickly as possible, not just for the Olympics. We need it now, for the situations you're describing. These women—and in some cases men—need protection now, and we'd like to see the opposition move forward with it.
:
As you pointed out, we have an interdepartmental working group. It covers a number of areas and comes with a number of initiatives. I indicated our support for the victims of crime, and the $50 million that we are prepared to put into it.
Indeed, part of our approach was revealed last spring with the appointment of a federal ombudsman for the victims of crime. Now there is a single office that actually looks at the issues as they relate to the victims of crime, a sort of central coordinating agency.
I can tell you as well that the interests of the interdepartmental group are not confined to issues within Canada. This problem is an international one. It goes beyond Canada's borders. In the few minutes the chair allowed me, I touched on our cooperation with the United Nations agencies and the development of manuals that will assist people in other countries.
One of the initiatives that I'm particularly interested in is designed to help other countries to develop trafficking legislation. I've always said that Canada has been the beneficiary of two of the world's great legal systems, and that we now have an obligation to help others, just as we have been helped in the past. So this is one of the initiatives.
Again, we have this interdepartmental group that helps to coordinate our response across all government departments, and indeed throughout the world. As you can tell, I'm quite excited about some of the things we are doing to address this.
Ministers, thank you very much for coming here this morning. The fact that three of you are here for two hours underscores the importance of this topic, and I think all members of the committee certainly appreciate it.
We all know human trafficking is really a modern-day global slave trade, and it's estimated, I understand, to be a $12 million industry annually. I want to take a slightly different tack and I want to talk about trafficking in Canada.
But before I do that, I want to get some clarification from Minister Day. I'm not sure whether I heard you correctly when you said that international sporting events are not magnets for human trafficking, because if that's the case, it's contrary to all the evidence we had before the committee and all the preparations we know are going on in other jurisdictions when there are soccer tournaments, formula racing events.... So I'll give you a minute to answer.
I want to talk about the trafficking of women internally in Canada and I want to focus particularly on aboriginal women. When I looked at the response to the report that we put in--we identified issues of poverty for aboriginal peoples as a priority--I didn't see an adequate response from the government on that issue. The response referred to the Status of Women research that's been done on trafficking, and some of it is specific to aboriginal women, but we know that funding is no longer available. So I'm curious to know whether there's any makeup on it.
We know there is a substantial amount of trafficking of aboriginal women in this country. I know it emanates from my community of Winnipeg. I know that women are held hostage by those who are trafficking them. I've met with women's groups in British Columbia frequently, and I know the issues there.
The committee heard from Sergeant Lori Lowe that the RCMP's national aboriginal policing service had an interest in examining the trafficking of aboriginal women for the purposes of sexual exploitation, but the RCMP lacked both the funding and the human resources to be able to carry out such research. So what's being done to address the needs of research, specifically with the victimization of aboriginal women? I'm interested in knowing from you, Minister Nicholson, what particular initiatives are under way.
I'm familiar with the Sisters in Spirit program, so don't refer to that. But what initiatives are under way to identify the lost women and to assist aboriginal groups to prevent the trafficking of aboriginal women? We heard unequivocally, whether it's international or national, the overriding catalyst for women to be trafficked is poverty.
I'm a little over the map, but I would welcome some response on the domestic trafficking of women.
On the policing and security side, I've also met with Sergeant Lowe and discussed these issues. She's very focused and attuned to the challenges.
It does happen to the degree that it happens, and the aim on the policing side is to try to investigate, find out, expose, and bring to justice those who would perpetrate this activity. Recently there was a case of six individuals that the Peel police were investigating, and there were four others in the Toronto area.
In our view, and I know the view is shared by committee members, I can't think of something much more despicable than a human being enslaving another one, literally, through drugs, fear, extortion, or whatever it might be to get them to perform certain services. That's why we show, and want to show, no sympathy whatsoever to the perpetrators and those who are involved in this.
A component of the funding that, in terms of the increase, has gone to the RCMP over this last year is directed to the challenges with aboriginals. It can be broken out in different departments and different packages. I could ask officials to send those to the committee in terms of exact amounts.
I can tell you that with the national crime prevention strategy, which deals with youth at risk, I have personally overseen the direction of considerable dollars on a specific basis to specific areas, again to groups, sometimes women's groups, reaching out to youth at risk, especially those who have been exposed to the drug trade for the purpose of being enslaved. There are funds directed to that, and that is one example.
I can give you a further breakdown. It covers a number of different areas. Those dollars are directed--
:
Well, I'd very much like to be able to answer those questions. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, there were no reasons given.
What happened was that key groups that have a very strong interest in preventing human trafficking--for example, Future Group, Salvation Army, Stop the Trafficking Coalition--had all been invited to appear before committee to present their views. That was supposed to have happened this past Monday. They received notice on Friday that they were no longer invited to attend on Monday, and that in fact no date had been set for them to return at all. The committee dealt with other business.
I think it's most unfortunate that these views.... These obviously are people who have a lot of expertise in this field, who have a very strong interest and have been very active in combatting human trafficking. I think their views need to be heard by the committee. I think the issue is an important one, and the committee should be addressing it.
The bill is at the stage where it is officially before committee. I'd very much like to see the committee honour that and deal with the bill, move it forward, listen to the key stakeholders, and pass it on so that we can get it through the Senate and we can enact this piece of legislation that will help protect vulnerable foreign workers and children.
:
Thank you very much for those questions.
They are certainly clandestine operations, so we can only estimate. We know it's a particular problem in a number of Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are well-documented cases of human trafficking in eastern Europe, and to a certain extent of course in Africa.
On who these victims are, the International Labour Organization estimated that 98% of the people who are victims of this crime are women and girls. That's not too surprising. But as Madam Neville said, it's not just confined to the trafficking of individuals in this country. We know there are many instances of aboriginal women being exploited as well.
Canada, as you may know, has a comprehensive set of criminal laws that deal with just about every aspect of this. They're complemented by other sections, not just the trafficking sections alone. Certainly the assault and victimization provisions within the Criminal Code complement our approach to this.
So it's a major problem that's been identified by this committee and others. As I indicated to one of your colleagues, recognition that this is not just a Canadian problem but a worldwide problem will help in combatting this. It's a major problem throughout the world and we are addressing it. I believe there's a comprehensive set of laws within the Criminal Code to deal with it.
:
There are a number of aspects to this issue. It is a very serious one. Often people—the temporary foreign workers, the live-in caregivers—come here from another country to fill these jobs. They're brought here under false pretence by some unscrupulous immigration consultants.
Our goal is to make sure these temporary foreign workers, whatever role they're playing, know their rights, for starters. This is why, when they arrive and we give them the work permits, they are told what their rights are. They are counselled in their home country as to what their rights are and what they can expect when they get here. Under Canadian law, they must be treated the same as any Canadian-born worker would be treated, in terms of work conditions, wages, and labour rights. All the same rules apply to them. It's incumbent upon the employers to live up to those obligations.
That being said, HRSDC is working with the provinces to develop enforcement. We've made a commitment as a government to work on this aspect with the provinces, because after all, each province has its own legislation dealing with labour law, to make sure there is enforcement, awareness, and follow-up. It would be up to the to provide you with further details on that.
:
I would be very glad to do that.
What we're talking about is the age of consent for sexual activity. It's presently 14 years of age, and our proposal is to move it to 16. I've said to people that this is not just something from the 20th century; this is something from the 19th century, in my opinion. What happens--and you're in the business of talking about and trying to deal with the problem of the exploitation of individuals--is that you get individuals who are sometimes not even in this country. You can be a 40- or 50-year-old from Texas and you start emailing a 14-year-old in Canada, and if you engage in sex with that 14-year-old on a trip to Canada, the police throw up their hands because there's nothing they can do about it. I believe this is absolutely wrong and is a mistake. We don't want this country to become a target for sex tourists who come to Canada because our law is actually out of sync, quite frankly, with the United Kingdom, Australia, and many American states, which sometimes have it higher than 16. We have to bring our laws into that.
What challenges am I having? You heard Senator Carstairs. She said on television last night that she has some concerns, because this might drive certain aspects of prostitution underground. Well, good heavens, if somebody is having sex with a 14- or 15-year-old, I want that to be an offence in this country, and I don't want these individuals to be using the defence of consent.
What we put in this is a close-in-age exemption of five years so that we aren't criminalizing consensual sex between teenagers. We're getting after those adult predators, those 40- and 50-year-olds who are going after 14- and 15-year-olds. I have made the point, and I made it last summer when I didn't get this thing through the Senate, and I made it again yesterday when I was before the Senate, that children in this country are not as well protected as they should be, because that law has not been passed. So I definitely hope it gets passed. I know this had widespread support in the House of Commons, and it's legislation that this country needs and that I would like to see enacted.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll go to Minister Nicholson, if I could. Personally, I want to say, with respect to the bills we were just discussing, it was the prorogation of the House that killed them for a while. We did offer to fast-track those. In addition to that, there is protection for children that exists in law. It may not be as black and white, but the protection is there.
I want to go to questions that I started with earlier.
Minister Nicholson, you referred to me earlier with respect to legalizing brothels and so on, and that was not my point at all. I'm completely on the other side of things.
I have three full recommendations that I really need to focus in on. The first one has to do with criminalizing the user and decriminalizing the prostitute; this is really what it's about. Let me just read to you. Sweden, the Swedish Parliament actually, in 1998 passed legislation criminalizing the purchase of sexual services. Under the act, which came into effect in 1999 in Sweden, prostitutes do not face criminal prosecution for engaging in prostitution; however, the consumers of prostitution can be fined or sentenced to up to six months, and then it goes on, of course, with respect to pimps, and we also have legislation for that.
Essentially what they have done is reversed the coin. Instead of charging the prostitutes when they're offering, they're charging the user. They've had major, good success. We met with them. Their success has been actually tremendous, because the traffickers and the pushers go to countries like Germany, where they've actually legalized it; it's the opposite. So we're seeing it differently.
My first question is, is the government looking at all of this in terms of criminalization?
Following that, of course, is recommendation 7, which basically reinforces recommendation 6. It says that the Criminal Code be amended to include a criminal offence of purchasing a sexual service. To support that further, recommendation 9 then refers to the defence act to be amended to include new offences of purchasing a sexual service, which is to then become compliant with that.
The question is, is the government looking at that at all, in terms of going in the direction this committee has recommended?
:
Well, on the budgetary side, just within the RCMP themselves, $1.35 million out of this last budget was directed specifically to the area of training.
There are some things they have to be sensitive to. For instance, with some of the cases that my colleague has mentioned, you'll have a case where, thankfully, somebody either escapes the clutches of someone who is exploiting them or they are freed from that in some way, and one minute they're willing to testify and then later on they have great fear and concern and they may not be willing to testify. The officers need to be sensitive to a person who is a victim, who is trapped, yet is so afraid of testifying that the valuable evidence they need to go after the perpetrators becomes elusive.
That's just one aspect of the proper type of training and sensitivity that goes into not just RCMP officers, but border officers, immigration officers--the ability to encourage victims to come forward, to let them know they will be safe, that there will be protection.
Among the recommendations from this committee, recommendation 27 talks about the witness protection program. There has to be an assurance given to the potential victims that they will be protected. That's why there's a collaboration right now with Crime Stoppers across the country to continue to develop a program that has an outreach component to it, so that somebody who is a victim on the domestic side or someone who's been brought into the country will become aware that there is help for them.
That's a message we want to get out to them. And knowing that helps them to come forward with the valuable information that also helps us to go after the perpetrators.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I have a multi-tiered question.
One of the things we've been talking about is addressing what is essentially a horrific situation and a horrific problem. We don't even know what the numbers are. There's no way of gauging it, no way of actually finding out how many victims there are.
It was said here that we can't tell other nations what to do with respect to the victims of trafficking, but we can address the trafficking that we know exists domestically. It most certainly does exist here, particularly among aboriginal women and girls. They are the most vulnerable.
We've talked about prosecution and prevention. I'd like to focus a little more on prevention and the things we can do, because we're not helpless. We can do some things in this country in regard to that, and I think through the social structures.
For example, we know about poverty. The report is very clear that while we can't necessarily address the demand for sexual exploitation, we can address poverty, and through a number of ways.
For example, one in six children in this country is growing up in poverty, and they become much more susceptible to the realities of poverty and to the wish to escape that poverty through one means or another. Those children are from homes where there are single moms who don't have access to child care and can't escape the poverty trap. We know that only 30% of young women who contribute to unemployment insurance are able to collect it when they are out of work. We know that self-employed women are not eligible to collect unemployment insurance. We know that there is a housing crisis in this country, yet we have no national housing strategy.
It seems to me that some of the solutions in terms of prevention are here. I'm wondering what this government is prepared to do to make sure there truly is a secure child care system that moms and young families can depend on; so that there is a national housing strategy; so that there is help when people are unemployed; so that those one in six children aren't so vulnerable; so that those women are not so vulnerable and aren't susceptible to the enticements of the predators we know are out there.
:
It's very important that everyone have the opportunity to escape the poverty trap. You're absolutely right, Ms. Mathyssen, when you say that poverty is one of the contributors to human trafficking and to the vulnerability, particularly of women, to being trafficked. We all want to prevent that, absolutely.
As a government we've taken a number of steps to help alleviate the poverty situation, first of all in trying to help people get good jobs. To do that we need to have a strong economy. We have been providing a number of forms of assistance to business, both large and small, because it's small and medium businesses that create 75% of the new jobs. We've provided incentives to help them be more competitive in a world market.
We've provided a universal child care benefit to parents so that they're not locked into a formal child care system. They can opt into it if they choose, but they'll have assistance to get the form of child care that best meets their needs. We've provided millions of dollars to the provinces to help them create formal child care spaces, so that young women can get into the workforce.
We've introduced the WITB, the working income tax benefit, to help people get over the poverty threshold that sometimes keeps them on welfare instead of becoming productive in the workforce.
We've provided education assistance to students in universities and colleges and have encouraged them, through incentives, to get skilled trades and get the education they need to earn a good living for themselves.
We've introduced EI reforms to extend eligibility but still encourage people to work.
We are spending more money on affordable housing to help these individuals who have low incomes than has ever been spent before.
So we're doing a lot to help ease the poverty situation that can contribute so significantly to human trafficking.
I will be giving you each about a minute and a half to do a summation.
I'd like to thank the three of you, on behalf of the committee, for being here. It's a critical issue. When we did the study of human trafficking, all committee members felt it was an issue that demanded that we take some very critical actions.
The women who are being trafficked, who come through any form, whether they come in as nannies or as live-in caregivers or as exotic dancers, are all very vulnerable, and these vulnerable women seek protection.
We need some clarification on some of the statements the ministers have made here. If they come in and they never testify against their perpetrator, how can the justice system be made to function?
Minister Nicholson, I think we need some clarification on recommendation 6. Basically, what the committee had stated is that there are trafficked women who come here, who may be put into prostitution, and the john may claim, when he goes to court, that he never knew this was a trafficked woman. When we heard the evidence, that's where the critical issue was.
Recommendations 6 and 7 stated that we would like the trafficked woman not to have a criminal record but that the john have a criminal record. Perhaps it requires a lot more discussion than that, but could you give a response to that?
And Minister Day, we had asked in recommendation 17 that we have evidence collected centrally so that everyone can access it. For the justice system to work effectively, you need to have all the information. So in your summation, if you could, just give us a brief update, and then we'll thank you for being here.
Minister Nicholson.
:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to join with my colleagues to talk with you about a very important subject.
I am, of course, among those...anyone who purchases, for starters, sexual services.... It is against the law in Canada; it should be vigorously enforced in the country. Any time you attack the consumer of any product or service and you reduce the business itself, then of course we'll suffer, if we can call this terrible situation that.
But again, of course, with respect to those individuals who are in the business of trafficking, I believe there is a comprehensive set of laws within the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that deal with individuals who coerce, exploit, molest, confine, or assault individuals. And of course that is as it should be.
I am encouraged by a number of initiatives that we are doing. As Ms. Mathyssen said, we can't tell other countries what to do, but we certainly can work with other countries. As I indicated to you in my opening remarks, the United Nations has made efforts to provide manuals to assist individuals who are in the business of law enforcement, judges, prosecutors in other countries.
I told you of one pilot project that I'm particularly interested in, which is this country helping individuals to get legislation on the books that helps in this area. Canada can be of great assistance in that. I'm very much looking forward to those initiatives.
Before I sum up, I would like to clarify a point. I may have misspoken earlier when I talked about Bill S-218. It is a private member's bill that's before the Senate to put into law what we already have in regulation. I just wanted to clarify that for the record, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank you and the committee once again for having us here today. This is an important issue to you. Obviously, it's an important issue to our government. I think it's almost unprecedented to have three ministers appear before a committee at once, so it shows you the emphasis that we place on this issue, the fact that all three of us are here today.
It is important. We are taking steps in the right direction. There's no question we need to do more. We're trying to do that to help combat human trafficking. I would therefore urge each and every member around this table to come out and block Bill S-218, because it will needlessly impair the ability of the government to respond to changing needs in combatting human trafficking, but also to support Bill C-17, which will help us protect vulnerable foreign workers, particularly women and children.
I'd ask you, as members of the committee, to take these actions and to also urge your caucus colleagues, your colleagues on the citizenship and immigration committee, your colleagues in the House, and your colleagues in the Senate to take action on these two bills.
Thank you very much.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the committee.
You have already had an impact on the efforts of our law enforcement officials to combat human trafficking.
[English]
You've already accomplished that.
I'd just say briefly to Ms. Mathyssen--and we've corresponded on a number of issues, which I appreciate, or to any committee members--if you have a situation in which you hear of something that happens at the border, and there's a possibility of somebody at risk of human trafficking, and it didn't go as you would have hoped, please get that information to me.
On your direct question, Madam Chair, it is important to coordinate and get the right kind of information. That's why we've given $240,000 from Public Safety to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. That's just one of a number of ways we have to get the right information.
I'll just close with the thought that we have—and I know this is your message—a dual message here, the message to those who are victims: there are people who will help you. There are people who will protect you. We want to get you out of the clutches of those predators, and we extend that to you. And that will be across the country.
And to the predators and the perpetrators: I can't think of many things more despicable than somebody enslaving another human being. It is hugely ironic that on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade we would have to be looking at people who still want to enslave others.
We will stand with you in that great task to put an end to that through legislation, being tough on the perpetrators and the predators, and through education and prevention, reaching out so that we can have indeed a society and a country where people are truly free.