While Canada is meeting the minimum standards to combat human trafficking, it has to do more to put its laws into action to prosecute offenders and protect victims, according to a U.S. State Department report released this morning in Washington, D.C.
"Canada has taken positive steps to recognize the problem of human trafficking in our country, but has fallen short in terms of action", says Benjamin Perrin, a law professor at the University of British Columbia and leading expert on the issue.
At today’s news conference, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice unveiled the eighth annual "Trafficking in Persons Report." The report notes that, "Over the last year, Canada increased victim protection and prevention efforts, but demonstrated limited progress on law enforcement efforts against trafficking offenders."
"Federal and provincial authorities need sufficient resources and a mandate to pro-actively prosecute traffickers and effectively protect victims," says Asst. Prof. Perrin. "Human trafficking offends our most fundamental values of liberty and freedom. It demands a greater response."
In 2007, while several criminal charges were laid against alleged traffickers, not a single person was convicted of the offence of human trafficking, according to Perrin’s research. During the same period, only four victims of human trafficking received assistance from the federal government. Services for victims are "uneven" across the country, said the report.
The B.C. government was highlighted in the report for creating the country’s first provincial Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons in July 2007, as was the federal government for extending victim protection measures.
"The report recognizes important steps taken by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Gordon Campbell on this issue, but serves as a reminder that more is required," said Professor Perrin.
The report also includes one of the first indications that Canada is taking the threat of human trafficking in the lead-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics seriously.
"Canadian federal officials are collaborating with provincial British Columbia officials and the Vancouver Police to establish measures to prevent human trafficking at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Federal officials are also working with the RCMP and the Vancouver Olympic Committee to incorporate anti-trafficking measures into the Olympics’ broader security plan," said the report.
The full text of the U.S. State Department report is available for downloading at: www.state.gov.
Professor Perrin is a former Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and founder of The Future Group, a non-governmental organization that has worked since 2000 to confront human trafficking. He has appeared as an expert witness before several Parliamentary committees studying the problem and regularly comments in local, national and international media on the topic.
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