EXCLUSIVE: Feds took 16 months to explain why consecutive sentencing for traffickers wasn't enforced — then axed the law

CALGARY — The feds, using their time wisely, took almost 17 months to answer one question: why will they not enforce a law that would force human traffickers who commit multiple crimes to have consecutive sentencing?Bill C-452, or An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (exploitation and trafficking in persons), was introduced into law back in 2015 but was never put into effect. It would have imposed consecutive sentences on human trafficking offenders when committing combined offenses.Now — with federal communications documents obtained by the Western Standard — we know why the feds stalled until the amendments' expiry date eventually came. .What was found: back-and-forth emails between federal employees within the Justice Department brainstorming the perfect response to this question: How do we justify not introducing consecutive sentencing for human traffickers — especially when an amendment has been put in place to do just that?Since the law was never enforced, it was removed in 2025, according to the Minister of Justice's 2025 annual report following the Statutes Repeal Act, which removes legislation after 10 years if it is never used.Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, a then-senator, inquired in December 2022 to another then-senator, Marc Gold, the Government Representative for in the Senate at the time, about why the bill was not yet enforced.He recounts a case where the bill would have been put to good use:."A pimp previously convicted of sexually exploiting an 18-year-old woman from 2007 to 2014 was re-arrested in Montreal last weekend for the same crimes committed against two victims from October to December.""His record shows that he was guilty of considerable violence towards his victims, causing them significant bodily harm. ""The purpose of Bill C-452, which received Royal Assent on June 18, 2015, was to combat human trafficking and set out significant consecutive sentences for offenders convicted of both human trafficking and sexual exploitation.""This measure in Bill C-452 was repealed by your government, and this regularly leads to cases like the one I just mentioned, where pimps put their victims through hell and often get off with minor sentences," stated Boisvenu..During this time in 2022, the Liberals were in power, with Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister.The feds admitted back in 2021 they believed Bill C-452 "could result in grossly disproportionate sentences.""Former Bill C-452 required that judges impose consecutive sentences where an offender is sentenced at the same time for a trafficking-in-persons offence and any other offence arising out of the same event(s)," they stated."This provision, when combined with the mandatory minimum penalties for human trafficking offences enacted by former Bill C-36 (Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act), could result in grossly disproportionate sentences."."This could amount to cruel and unusual punishment contrary to section 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," they declared in the public attempts for sympathy.Section 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states: "Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment."However, according to the Supreme Court's interpretation of Section 12, treatments or punishments are not "inherently cruel and unusual", if they involve detention "because '[d]etention itself is never pleasant, but it is only cruel and unusual in the legal sense if it violates accepted norms of treatment.'"It further states the standards for violating Section 12 are set very high when it comes to detention duration..It highlights the sentence must be "grossly disproportionate to the sentence that is appropriate" in regard to the nature of the offense a sentence to be truly cruel and unusual.Gold responded to Boisvenu's inquiry by stating, "The government believes it is important for all sentences to be proportional and constitutional when judges hand them down.""The government will keep working to make sure our justice system is fair and upholds the Constitution."So — if the feds stated upholding what's fair was important — what did they do about the bill still going unused?.They delayed their response until... (drumroll please) April 2024.Then they submitted the response to former Senator Boisvenu, who had retired in February 2024, the approved response was signed by Parliamentary Secretary at the time, James Maloney, still the MP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore. The response explains Bill C-452 was introduced to make it easier for prosecutors to prove trafficking offences and seize any property or money related to the crime.However, this doesn't really matter — because it was never enforced and it was, later scrapped..In their response, the feds say judges should consider consecutive sentencing if an individual commits multiple crimes at once but must apply the "totality principle."This principle declares if consecutive sentences are imposed they cannot be "unduly long or harsh" staying within the degree of responsibility of the offender and the seriousness of their offences. A non-answer, alluding offenders should take responsibility for their crimes and serve their time but — sentencing should not be "long and harsh," without explaining what this means.The feds say the sentence should match the degree of the crimes, and claim that's why Bill C-452 was introduced — but it was never used..One notable detail: the time it took the feds to respond to one email.Indeed, there is a humongous jump in the email timeline — going from a January 13 2023 approval request to an April 9 2024 follow-up, as the message sat in limbo for more than a year.Because — there's no rush.

EXCLUSIVE: Feds took 16 months to explain why consecutive sentencing for traffickers wasn't enforced — then axed the law

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