Former Winnipeg Conservative MP Joy Smith spent 15 years in politics to fight human trafficking, but said she’s concerned the Liberal government may destroy the legal framework she established on the issue..According to the Joy Smith Foundation the MP founded in 2012, “Human trafficking can be described as modern-day slavery involving the recruitment, transportation, or harbouring of persons for the purpose of exploitation, typically in the sex trade or through forced labour.” The site reports 93% of Canada’s sex trafficking victims are Canadian born and enter the industry at 12 to 14 years of age. Sex does sell, and each trafficking victim earns a trafficker an average of $280,000 per year..A court challenge struck down Canada’s prostitution laws in 2013, and Smith’s advocacy helped guide the Harper government’s response of Bill C-36. One year ago, Ontario judge Thomas McKay ruled three aspects of the bill were unconstitutional: advertising the sex trade, making money from sexual services, and procuring sexual services. .The federal justice committee began hearings to review the legislation on February 8, and Smith herself will testify February 15..“There’s a big lobby group, pro prostitution group, that is trying to get rid of it,” Smith said..“People will say in ignorance, ‘Oh there’s no massage parlours in my city.’ Well that’s not true. There’s body rub parlors, there’s all these places all across the country.”.The issue motivated Smith to enter politics after 23 years as a teacher. She served as a Progressive Conservative MLA from 1999 to 2003, then a Conservative MP from 2004 to 2015. She introduced private member’s Bill C-268 in 2010 which brought mandatory minimum sentences to those who trafficked children 18 years and under. In 2012 her private member’s Bill C-310 passed unanimously and allowed Canada to prosecute Canadian citizens or permanent residents who trafficked or exploited others abroad..Since her political retirement, Smith has continued efforts to address human trafficking through her foundation. She convinced Winnipeg’s city council to de-license massage parlours and escort services last month. She said the licensed status is often used by human traffickers to give false assurances to the exploited they will be kept safe..“Traffickers use them. They exploit the girls in those places,” Smith said..“We don’t call them businesses, we call them crime locations because of what we know. So it’s really a fight between the pro prostitution group and the people who want to protect the very young. And when big money is involved, I’m telling you, they’ll do anything to make sure they keep getting that money.”.Smith, who turns 75 this month, handed the reigns of her foundation to Janet Campbell earlier this year. The foundation offers intervention and education, and Smith says calls have tripled since the pandemic began..“During the COVID, a lot of kids were online. But a lot of kids are not schooled on the fact that human trafficking happens. And traffickers are very schooled on the Internet,” Smith said, adding some software can transform the voice and face of a man online seem like a teenager’s..“Traffickers use that to their advantage. We have so many cases, so many cases where the kids were lured over the Internet. Research is showing a child be lured and fall in love with you, believe it or not, in 45 minutes.”.Smith says a lot of trafficking comes across the Great Lakes, and some groups suffer worse than others..“Indigenous victims are over represented… Newcomers to Canada are certainly targeted [and] there’s a strong increase in boy trafficking,” Smith said..“We’ve had cases where they put their face on in very compromising positions sexually, and then they blackmail them to get money that way, too.”.Smith says education is crucial for a country largely unaware of the issue..“When we go into schools, we tell them if your [web] camera is on, turn it off because traffickers… take a snapshot of them. We’ve had cases where they put their face on very compromising positions sexually, and then they blackmail them to get money that way, too,” Smith said..“Any young person is susceptible to being trafficked because they’re all vulnerable. I’ve had cases that came from the most wonderful homes. You’d wonder, how did that happen? Well, perpetrators earn a lot of money off innocent victims, and that’s how it happens.”.Lee Harding is a Saskatchewan-based correspondent for Western Standard.
