Two private member's Bills that made Canadian history.

AuthorSmith, Joy
PositionBill C-268 and Bill C-310; act to amend the Criminal Code

Bill C-268, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (minimum sentence for offences involving trafficking of persons under the age of eighteen years), was only the fifteenth Private Member's Bill to change the Criminal Code since 1867 and the sponsor of the Bill made history with Bill C-310, becoming the first MP in history to change the Criminal Code twice. This article looks at the background and content of these two Bills.

I was first drawn to the issue of human trafficking in Canada through the work of my son, who was a member of the RCMP and served in the Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (ICE).

Overnight, I noticed a huge change in him; his hair" turned grey and I could tell things weighed heavily on him. I was appalled to find out that children in Canada were being bought and sold in exchange for sex and money and even more horrified that this issue was completely off the public's radar screen. As I became more aware of the magnitude of the problem, I realized this exploitation was happening in communities all across our nation. Gradually I began working with victims of human trafficking and not only saw, but felt their pain and humiliation. Perpetrators used coercion and manipulation to gain control of these innocent victims. The victims were and are subjected to every imaginable sexual, physical and mental abuse, involuntary drug use and even threats against their victim's families.

First Steps--Getting the Word Out

When I came to Parliament in 2004, I wanted to stop the business of human trafficking. Unfortunately, I faced an uphill battle in trying to change the channel and focus Canadians' attention on this heinous crime happening in their own backyards. Few Parliamentarians were aware of the depth of this issue in Canada and struggled to believe that this was a reality in our nation.., let alone one we had to confront. I began my work as a Member of Parliament to bring greater awareness about human trafficking in Canada and greater attention to what we must all do to stop it.

The first step in fighting this crime was calling on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women to initiate a study of human trafficking in Canada. On September 28, 2005, I first raised the need to address the sexual slavery occurring in North America. I presented this issue to the Committee to give voice to the thousands of women, both Canadian born and others arriving on Canadian soil from other countries, who suffered at the hands of human traffickers.

Turning Outrage into Action

My motion to study human trafficking in Canada was passed by the Committee on September 26, 2006 and the study then began on October 3, 2006. The Standing Committee on the Status of Women's February 2007 Report, Turning Outrage into Action to Address Trafficking for...

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