Anti-Human Trafficking Group Calls on Ottawa to Increase Actions in Rural Canada

Kelly Tallon Franklin, founder of Courage for Freedom and a human trafficking survivor, speaks during a news conference on Feb. 15, 2023 in Ottawa. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

A delegation of anti-human trafficking organizations is calling on the federal government to increase the action it is taking to counter human-trafficking crimes across Canada, particularly in the country’s rural areas.

“It continues to be a real problem in Canada,” said Margaret Byl, president of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada, during a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 15. “We are asking that the federal government ensure that rural women and children have access to technology, education, transportation, medical and mental health support.”

Byl said the average age of recruitment into sex trafficking in Canada is 13 years old.

“How do we help spread the word on the issue of human trafficking in Canada?” she said. “And we would encourage the federal government to coordinate programs across Canada with an emphasis on social media and anti-human trafficking.”

The delegation’s press conference comes one week before National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on Feb. 22, to which a number of MPs have recently drawn attention in the House of Commons.

“[Human trafficking] is hidden in plain sight right here in Canada,” said Liberal MP John McKay on Feb. 14.

Federal Conservatives have said that the Liberal government’s Bill C-5, which was passed in November 2022 and removed mandatory minimum sentences for a number of crimes, emboldens criminals involved in human trafficking.

“[Bill C-5] expanded house arrest for other serious offences, including sexual assault, kidnapping, human trafficking, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Imagine how victims feel marginalized, how their suffering is ignored,” said Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay in the House on Feb. 2.

A Statistics Canada (StatCan) report published in December 2022 said the average annual number of police-reported human trafficking incidents across Canada has been steadily increasing since 2011.

“There were 3,541 police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada between 2011 and 2021,” said the report titled “Trafficking in persons in Canada, 2021.”

However, StatCan acknowledged that detecting human trafficking is “often difficult” and that the number of actual incidents across the country is likely higher than what police find and report.

“Accurately measuring this type of crime to obtain a clear understanding of its prevalence is challenging; instead, research is often qualitative in nature,” StatCan wrote.

‘Further Actions’

Marianne Wilkinson, who was representing the National Council of Women of Canada at the Feb. 15 press conference, said she is concerned about the lack of government action addressing children at risk of being trafficked.

“We think it’s very important that the government takes action right now, right across the nation in every province and territory,” Wilkinson said.

Kelly Tallon Franklin, the founder of the anti-human trafficking organization Courage for Freedom, echoed Wilkinson’s remarks, saying there is “space for key roles and responsibilities” within the government to address human trafficking.

“We think it is important that there is an ongoing commitment to this and a succession,” she said. “We call to attention that there’s need for further actions.”

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino spoke in July 2022 about the federal government’s “National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking,” which has received over $60 million in government funding.

“Our focus is to prevent trafficking, prosecute offenders and empower survivors,” he said in a statement on July 30, 2022, acknowledging that countering the issue requires “urgent action” from all levels of government.

“We’re taking action across government,” he said.