Members of Parliament from all four opposition parties have joined together to call on the Liberal government to reverse its decision to allow funding to expire for programs that help victims of human trafficking in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MPs say that without funding from Ottawa, organizations that offer the programs will no longer be able to give specialized assistance to those women and girls who the ongoing pandemic has made even more vulnerable.
“These programs are vital. These programs save lives. These programs give people a second chance, and these programs are working to end human trafficking and sexual exploitation,” said Conservative Women and Gender Quality critic Karen Vecchio in a press conference May 28.
The organizations had been receiving funding through a five-year federal program, which ended in March 2020, that was set up by the former Conservative government alongside efforts to reform Canada’s prostitution laws.
That program is being replaced by a new national strategy to combat human trafficking, but no funding has yet started to roll out.
This has left groups that help victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation with a gap in funding since March, with no clear idea of when new money will be made available.
“Women who are trafficked and sexually exploited face so much. And now when they need that stability, when they need that support from their government, it cannot be taken away,” said Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP critic for Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, Women and Gender Equality.
“These are not the actions of a feminist government.”
A group of four MPs—from the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois, NDP, and Greens—sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other ministers responsible for this file urging them to restore funding to the groups and enable them to continue their work.
With files from the Canadian Press
