TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN THE CANADIAN PROVINCE OF MANITOBA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000549

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR G/TIP, WHA/CAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KTIP SOCI CA
SUBJECT: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN THE CANADIAN PROVINCE OF MANITOBA
- ABORIGINAL POPULATIONS AFFECTED DISPROPORTIONATELY

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1. (U) This cable was prepared by APP Winnipeg.


2. (SBU) Summary: In the Canadian central plains, trafficking in
persons is tied inextricably to the prostitution of aboriginal women
and female children in the largest cities. A conference hosted by
the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs July 8-9 brought together
stakeholders and experts - including University of British Columbia
professor Benjamin Perrin, who was named as a TIP "hero" in this
year's TIP report - to gauge the extent of the problem and develop a
strategy to combat it. According to the evidence presented at the
conference, there is a verifiable problem, but participants spent
more time looking for someone to blame than at possible solutions.
End summary.

Who is Trafficked and Why?
--------------


3. (U) Trafficking in Persons in Manitoba consists primarily of
aboriginal women and children who are lured to the city from
impoverished reservations in northern Manitoba with promises of a
better life, a good job, and exciting lifestyle. Some find their own
way to the city; others reportedly are transported by either gangs
or individual pimps who seek to profit from the women once they get
to the city. Others were born and raised in the city. In almost all
cases, women make the initial trip voluntarily. Once they arrive in
the city, they quickly find that their lack of education and
cultural understanding disqualifies them for all but the most menial
of jobs, and without any means of support or social network to help
them. Prostitution offers quick money - reportedly up to C$900 per
day - and a seemingly more glamorous lifestyle. Many women and
children are attracted to it initially. Some rationalize that they
will only participate in the trade until "they have enough money to
go home" or until "they get enough education to get something else."
However, once they get involved in the sex trade, workers often
become addicted to narcotics, and find that the only way they can
support their habit is through continued participation in the sex
trade.



4. (U) Conference participants heard that the subjugation of
aboriginal women for prostitution has gone on since the time of
European contact, and has gained momentum recently due to grinding
poverty on reservations, glamorization of an urban, promiscuous
lifestyle in popular culture, and easy and anonymous marketing on
the Internet. According to statistics from the "Stop Sex with Kids"
initiative of the Manitoba provincial government, 70 - 80 percent of
the 400 children and youth involved in prostitution in the city of
Winnipeg are aboriginal, 85 - 90 percent are female, and 72 percent
were already in the care of child welfare agencies. There were some
anecdotal remarks about aboriginal women and children being
trafficked to other cities in Canada or even to the United States,
but this does not appear to be widespread.

Where to from here?
--------------


5. (U) The conference featured many speakers who described the size
and scope of the problem, and there were many personal testimonials
from those who have escaped from the lifestyle about the terrible
impact prostitution has on the women and children involved. Several
speakers introduced controversial neo-Marxist analyses and
historical perspectives of the situation. Some claimed that the
problems of trafficking and prostitution are a result of the
colonial legacy - one presenter referred to herself as an aboriginal
woman living on occupied territory - as well as capitalism, poverty,
Qwoman living on occupied territory - as well as capitalism, poverty,
and cultural oppression by mainstream society. Police were often
faulted for putting too much emphasis on picking up prostitutes
rather than "johns" - the men who solicit sex from them. Federal and
provincial justice agencies also faced harsh criticism for the lack
of prosecutions and convictions in prostitution-related offenses.
Police and justice officials acknowledged the frustration and agreed
that they need to do better, within the laws that exist.


6. (U) Winnipeg Member of Parliament Joy Smith served as a co-chair
of the conference; her private members' bill, C-268, was widely
praised for promising longer sentences for those convicted of human
trafficking offenses and to make it a crime in Canada to traffic
minors. The Salvation Army runs reportedly the most effective series
of programs designed to help girls get out of the sex trade,
including one that takes girls to summer camps for a few days to get
them away from the lifestyle and talk to them about alternatives to
prostitution.


7. (SBU) 2009 State Department TIP "hero" Benjamin Perrin was a very
active participant in the conference and was highly sought-after by
the media after making controversial remarks on the first day. He
gave the United States high marks for the TIP report, and innovative
programs at the state and local levels such as the joint statement

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by Craigslist, the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, and forty state Attorneys General in which online auction
sites agreed to obtain credit card information for each listing. He
also claimed to have found 300 ads on Craigslist for women and
children prostitutes in Winnipeg in the previous week and said that
Winnipeg has by far the highest prevalence of overt acts of children
being prostituted on the streets of any city he has ever seen.
Perrin was featured on every media outlet in the region for two
days.


8. (SBU) Comment: While part of the media ate up Perrin's
statements, others questioned which contributors to human
trafficking and prostitution the conference missed. The prevalence
of aboriginal gangs in certain parts of the city and their role in
human trafficking was not even mentioned. The collapse of
traditional aboriginal society in Manitoba, where a large percentage
of children are in custody of child welfare agencies, was only
mentioned as another consequence of the colonial legacy and
oppression. Aboriginal leaders appear only to have found human
trafficking to be an issue this year, yet no one asked what they
have done about an issue that has obviously decimating their
community for years. Social workers and others in aid agencies - who
made up a majority of the 100 participants in the conference - also
did not come in for any scrutiny, despite more than 70 percent of
prostituted youth being in care of child welfare agencies. That
said, the conference was a good first start at getting the issue out
in the open in Manitoba, and APP Winnipeg will stay in contact with
organizers and conference participants to look at the full array of
issues that buttress TIP in Manitoba.
BREESE