Originally published on October 4, 2010, in The Hill Times.
Conservative MP Joy Smith (Kildonan-St. Paul, Man) will host a book launch on Oct. 27 for Benjamin Perrin‘s new book about human trafficking, Invisible Chains, on the heels of releasing her national action plan on the same subject.
“What we have to do is address the whole picture and that’s why I called it Connecting the Dots,” Ms. Smith told The Hill Times recently. “We have to connect the dots with law enforcement, NGOs, everybody who’s working with these victims. We have to look at the safety, after someone has been taken out of the ring, the rehabilitation, and the reeducation so that they have a future because it’s an absolute insidious crime.”
Ms. Smith released her action plan on Sept. 15 with 14 recommendations, including amending immigration policy to stop human trafficking at borders, creating a tailor-made strategy for First Nations women, providing funding to NGOs that can assist victims, creating public awareness campaigns, and changing prostitution laws to target johns and thereby decreasing demand.
These recommendations will help to “connect the dots” between police services, governments at all levels, and NGOs and community groups to combat human trafficking which Ms. Smith said remains a serious problem in Canada.
“It’s just a horrendous thing when a young child is forced into the sex trade,” she said. “There are many, many girls right here in our country, 10 minutes from Parliament. When you know about it, you have to do something about it.”
Since becoming an MP in 2004, Ms. Smith has significantly worked on the issue, sponsoring a motion in 2007 which passed unanimously, urging the government to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent human trafficking. She later introduced a private member’s bill, which received royal assent in June, to create a minimum five-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of trafficking a minor in Canada.
“I think education is our greatest weapon, and so I believe that as a country, we need to have a national strategy that connects the dots. It takes a nation to stop human trafficking. It can’t be one government, it can’t be one law enforcement agency, it can’t be one NGO,” Ms. Smith said, noting she’s sent a copy of her action plan to all MPs, and the government is currently reviewing it but she said she doesn’t know if it will be adopted as government policy.
“Right now, it’s too early to say. I’ve made the recommendations. It’s now up to the government to take a look,” she said. “We already have a lot of these things, but they’re not effective because we haven’t connected the dots into a national strategy. And so, one entity doesn’t talk to another one. Or, one part doesn’t know about the other one. So with a national strategy, there will be communication between all parts, and I think that’s of paramount importance to happen.”
The book launch takes place from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in room 2-2 of the Booth Building on 165 Sparks Street.
