ONTARIO AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A WORK IN PROGRESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TORONTO 000165 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ELAB KCRM PHUM CA SUBJECT: ONTARIO AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A WORK IN PROGRESS Ref: (A) Toronto 24 (B) Toronto 152 Sensitive But Unclassified - Please Protect Accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Over the past year, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) has been working more effectively to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in the Greater Toronto Area. Law enforcement contacts within the TPS Sex Crimes Unit tell us initiatives to increase awareness of TIP related issues have begun to take hold. TPS TIP-related initiatives include training, lectures, community awareness sessions, and the creation of a new "Special Victims Section" within the TPS Sex Crimes Unit. Toronto authorities have excellent communication and investigative relationships with U.S. law enforcement agencies. Looking forward, Ontario law enforcement, NGOs, and social service providers aspire to establish a TIP office within the Ontario government, modeled on British Columbia's Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP). END SUMMARY. -------------- Toronto Police Initiatives -------------- ¶2. (U) Toronto Police recently established a "Special Victims Section" within the TPS' Sex Crimes Unit to identify and rescue young persons involved in the sex industry, investigate criminal acts committed against sex trade workers, and support the victims (including, but not limited to victims of human trafficking). ¶3. (U) TPS has also organized community mobilization strategies and awareness sessions. Toronto Police have established a partnership with the Salvation Army to provide emergency shelter for victims. In November 2006, TPS began conducting annual information sessions about Sex Crimes and Trafficking in Persons for vulnerable homeless and battered women. Toronto Police have also begun working with shelters and social service organizations to proactively identify trafficking victims, and provide early referrals to medical providers, assistance organizations, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the provision of temporary residence permits. According to a TPS presentation at a May 2008 human trafficking seminar in Toronto, this approach has helped police build more trusting relationships with shelters and other NGO service providers. -------------- Investigative Challenges -------------- ¶4. (U) Adequate medium and long term housing options for potential TIP victims in Ontario are hard to find. Shelters provide a reasonable short term solution but are not a viable option for extended periods. The housing issue is complicated further as many victims do not have a network of family and friends to call on in Canada (or abroad) in time of need. Police believe the lack of housing options may also discourage victims from coming forward to law enforcement. ¶5. (U) Police and NGO contacts report heavy suspicion of police among potential TIP victims. They attribute this to widespread police corruption in the source countries of trafficked persons. However, these same contacts also acknowledged that Canadian law enforcement may sometimes look at TIP victims as "suspects" first, and not as victims of crime. -------------- First TIP Conviction in Ontario -------------- ¶6. (U) On May 13, 2008, a Niagara Falls, Ontario man admitted using threats and intimidation to force two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15 respectively, to provide prostitution related services for C$300 per hour over a two year period. Crown prosecutors estimate he earned approximately C$400,000 through the two women. The guilty plea was the first under a 2005 federal law criminalizing certain prostitution related human trafficking offences. The defendant is expected to be sentenced in the next few weeks (ref (B)). -------------- Law Enforcement Cooperation -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Toronto Police contacts tell us that although TIP is an issue that crosses national and international jurisdictions, in their view Canada lacks a comprehensive strategy to combat TIP. TPS contacts note that the RCMP (Canada's federal Police force, which provides local and provincial law enforcement coverage for much of Canada outside of Ontario) provides training to other law enforcement agencies and conducts awareness sessions with community agencies and NGOs. A year ago the federal Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Status of Women issued a report containing 33 recommendations including that the federal government increase TORONTO 00000165 002 OF 002 resources for dedicated, multi-jurisdictional units to investigate potential trafficking offences. The federal government has not yet established those dedicated, multi-jurisdictional units. ¶8. (U) To improve their access to TIP-related information, TPS officers have established working partnerships with federal authorities including: Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA),the RCMP, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). TPS also cooperates with U.S. law enforcement agencies, including Toronto-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. -------------- B.C. Office Seen As Model for Ontario -------------- ¶9. (U) Human trafficking specialists in Toronto law enforcement view British Columbia as the most advanced province in Canada's TIP prevention efforts. They view the 2007 establishment of the B.C. Office to Combat Trafficking in Person (OCTIP),a centralized coordination and clearinghouse for anti-TIP efforts in the province, as an initiative worth emulating in Ontario. OCTIP's "human rights centered" approach, which emphasizes the protection of trafficked persons while simultaneously assisting police and prosecutors, offers a useful model to other provinces. Ontario TIP specialists were also extremely supportive of a University of British Columbia initiative to compile the first nationwide database of TIP statistics. ¶10. (SBU) COMMENT: The passage of strengthened federal anti-trafficking statutes in 2005 has been followed (with some delay) by increased provincial and local law enforcement efforts. Official efforts to balance victim protection and aggressive prosecution are beginning to bear modest successes both in terms of prosecutions and improved services for trafficking victims. The Greater Toronto Area, by virtue of its status as Canada's largest urban area, multicultural demographic (more than half of Toronto area residents were not born in Canada),and large number of law enforcement agencies, will remain an important center of gravity in the development of Canada's TIP prevention strategy. END COMMENT. NAY