‘We need to demand more’: Police face criticism over response to human trafficking. Is change coming?

Police and the province are being criticized for their response to human trafficking in B.C. Is change on the horizon?

• Part of the series Hidden in plain sight: Human trafficking and the B.C. connection

Critics say the provincial government and the province have not done enough to tackle the growing problem of human trafficking in B.C.

But there may be change on the horizon.

The B.C. RCMP recently approved the establishment of a 12-member Counter Human Trafficking Unit (CHTU-BC), according to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

In a statement to CTV News, the ministry said the CHTU will provide a provincial response that will be both proactive and reactive, and that the unit will “work closely with partner agencies to ensure a co-ordinated approach to identifying victims and perpetrators of human trafficking.”

The RCMP’s E-Division would not speak to CTV News about the unit, but word of its creation comes amid criticism that police and politicians have a poor track record when it comes to fighting human trafficking.

“We need to demand more of law enforcement and demand more of provincial governments in terms of addressing this issue,” said Sue Brown of Justice for Girls.

Brown said that to date, neither government nor police have done enough to stop trafficking.

“It is our experience and observation that police are not taking those reports seriously. It’s our experience and observation that police don’t have the resources, the will or the capacity to investigate these cases,” she said.

Brown wants B.C. to follow the lead of Ontario, where an intelligence-led joint forces strategy was created to fight the trade in humans.

“It’s allowed 20 policing organizations to collaborate on human-trafficking investigations. That increases information sharing, collaboration between jurisdictions and collaboration on different types of multi-jurisdictional trafficking investigations,” said Acting Detective Inspector Addison Hunter, of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Ontario accounts for 64 per cent of all police-reported human trafficking cases in Canada – but that province is fighting back and seeing results.

“We’ve laid 264 Criminal Code charges, 214 specifically being related to human trafficking charges, and then another 50 auxiliary charges,” Hunter said.

Unlike B.C., when cases go to court in Ontario, prosecutors dedicated solely to human trafficking offences handle each one.

“We get the same arguments from defence counsel over and over again. And if you didn’t specialize in this area, you may not be familiar with those types of legal issues and arguments that come. You might be caught off guard,” explained Susan Orlando, the provincial co-ordinator of Ontario’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Team.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Prosecution Service said that experienced senior Crown counsel are assigned to human-trafficking cases in our province.

When asked about this issue, Premier David Eby said B.C. has a highly professional prosecution service which makes decisions independent of government. He also said there is always ways to look at how B.C. can do things better.

Orlando said something else Ontario has done is create provincial restraining orders, specific to human trafficking, that don’t require a report to police first.

“It’s not a Criminal Code restraining order. It’s an order of the court that prevents a trafficker from communicating with a person who is either being trafficked or at risk of being trafficked,” Orlando explained.

“These applications can be made by… the person whose being trafficked themselves or if its in relation to a child that’s under 18 who is being trafficked or at risk of being trafficked, it could be made by a parent or somebody else on their behalf,” she said.

Despite repeated requests, B.C.’s public safety minister, Garry Begg, did not make himself available for an interview with CTV News, but said in a statement, “The rise in human trafficking is a significant issue that happens in our province and at our borders.”

He also stated, “We are actively coordinating with all levels of government and our southern neighbors to combat this illegal activity.”

Begg’s ministry said its response to human trafficking has focused on enhanced supports for survivors and increased community capacity to respond to human trafficking.

Neither the Vancouver police nor the B.C. RCMP’s special unit that deals with human trafficking would do interviews with CTV News about human trafficking.

If anyone needs more information on anti-human trafficking efforts or where to get help, there are numerous resources available, including:

• The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-833-900-1010
• VictimLinkBC is a toll-free, multilingual, confidential service available 24-hours a day, seven days a week that can be called or texted at 1-800-563-0808 or emailed at [e-mail].
• Salvation Army Illuminate, which delivers a range of anti-trafficking programs (including Deborah’s Gate, a high-security Canadian safe house with rehabilitative programming for trafficking survivors) and conducts presentations and other public awareness activities around the province.
• PLEA Community Services and their program Children of the Street Society, which is dedicated to preventing the sexual exploitation and human trafficking of children and youth in B.C. through education strategies, public awareness initiatives and family support.
• Migrant Workers Center, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to legal advocacy for migrant workers in B.C. MWC facilitates access to justice for migrant workers through the provision of legal education, advice and full representation.
• Covenant House Vancouver has over 25 years of experience serving homeless youth experiencing and has recently developed an anti-human trafficking toolkit to support staff and other organizations in the sector.

This project was made possible with funding provided by the Lieutenant Governor’s B.C. Journalism fellowship, in partnership with Government House Foundation and the Jack Webster Foundation.