A black Cadillac pulls up to a side door of the hotel and waits. “Something’s up,” I think to myself. Behind the wheel is a man in his 40’s, he looks South Asian. A pimp, perhaps? Not likely. He more fits the profile of a typical driver. In the sex industry, drivers are private owner/operators, often used to shuttle girls on “outcalls” to meet with clients. It’s a cash-only transaction, and there’s never record of the fare.

I happened to be circling the hotel because I was looking for a particular vehicle; a BMW sedan. Earlier that day, I had spoken with a woman who was concerned that her daughter might be in the company of a human trafficker –the owner of the Beamer I’m looking for. This was the first place for me to look because it’s always crawling with pimps and johns. I don’t see the car, so I head across the street to a second hotel. Again, I come up empty.* As I drive back onto the service road, I notice two teenage girls emerge from the first hotel -15 years old, perhaps, maybe 16. They’re all dolled up and wearing heels. As you guessed, they climb in to the back seat of the black Caddy.

Human trafficking is big business in the Toronto area. Whether it’s the hotels or some guy trying to earn a few bucks on the side, a lot of people are eager to share in the profits. As I merge onto highway 401, I notice the Caddy is on my tail. I’m quickly overtaken, as the car weaves in and out at an excessive speed. Time is money, and the driver is doing is best to regain the lost minutes waiting for the girls.

That’s what it’s all about. The money. It’s why girls, like the two kids in the black car, are being trafficked in the sex industry. It’s why the hotels rent rooms to youngsters with fake ID and prepaid credit cards, while their so-called “boyfriends” watch from across the lobby. If it wasn’t for the profits, none of this would be happening. And I would have no BMW to look for because no pimp could ever buy one without his dirty money.

Like anything else, it’s about supply and demand. The demand is driven by middleclass family men from the suburbs who are willing to use their money to access something to which they have no right. The other day I shared my concern with a precious young lady whose exploitation began when she was 15 years old –that no amount of money had ever bought the right for any man to touch her. Her response came in the form of tears.

In 2014 Canada gained new criminal code restrictions on the purchase sexual services. But most think that’s a little extreme. Right now, the provinces are trying what might be considered a more balanced approach. The idea is that we should allow people to enjoy prostitution, but not tolerate human trafficking. The various police forces around the GTA, for example, are right now racking up record numbers of human trafficking arrests. Punishing pimps is a good idea but it’s not even partially achieving the objective of reducing domestic human trafficking. Only when the flow of that dirty money stops will the trafficking of vulnerable young people come to an end.

The money is the driver.

*My work with parents of exploited young people sometimes involves gathering information to help them dialogue more effectively with police, as they seek to intervene on behalf of their children. I play no direct role in punishing pimps.  

In February 2018, I had the privilege in accompanying Kelly Franklin, from Farmtown Canada, and MPP’s Laurie Scott and Jeff Yurek to speak at the Ontario Legislature, Queen’s Park.  The event was a press release to raise concern about the challenges in accessing funding and licencing for treatment facilities for minor-aged victims of sex trafficking.  My message was edited for time and content.  The following is the uncut version of my speech.

Advocating for child sex trafficking victims, at Queen’s Park, Toronto, 2018.

The human rights crisis of minor-age sex trafficking is on the rise in Ontario because we have been ill-informed and too slow to respond.  Despite a dramatic increase in arrests of human traffickers, the problem remains because the demand for paid sex goes largely unchecked.

Sex trafficking is an industry that is predicated on gender violence.  The greatest risk factor is, simply, being a girl.  The perpetrators are men who pay for access to the bodies of young victims.  They destroy countless young lives in this province, and the lack of intervention is shameful.

Premier Wynne and Attorney General Naqvi, Ontario trails behind other provinces in providing legislation to protect vulnerable young people from exploitation.  In 2002 Bill 86, Rescuing Children from Sexual Exploitation Act, was intended to protect trafficked minors.  Without the legislation, police and child protection workers were greatly limited in their ability to intervene.  With a change of government in 2003, Bill 86 was mothballed, and eventually tossed into the trash by the then Premier on News Years Day, 2013.  After all these years, nothing has changed.

In 2014 the federal government finally gave the provinces effective tools to address illegal sex industry activities with the Protection of Communities and Vulnerable Persons Act (Bill C-36).  While these new criminal code provisions largely focus on prostitution activities, their greatest potential is to significantly cut the volume of human trafficking in Canada.  The effectiveness is conditional on aggressive enforcement against the purchase of sexual services.

Ms. Wynne, you evidently have a soft spot for the patrons of this violent criminal industry.  The day after these new federal protections came into force you held a press conference to discourage Ontarians from abiding by the laws, and police from enforcing them.  As a result, sex trafficking continues, unabated, in this province, and impacts untold numbers of minor-aged victims.

Mr. Naqvi, when you were about to take up the portfolio of Attorney General, I was called to your office to provide guidance for Ontario’s 2016 Strategy to End Human Trafficking.  I insisted that that you take steps to reduce the inflow of new sex trafficking victims.  Because that did not happen, the demand for girls remains high and the industry is booming.  To make matters worse, I’ve discovered that police agencies are being actively discouraged, by your Crown Attorneys, from charging sex buyers.  Mr. Naqvi, your so-called plan to end human trafficking won’t even slow it down.  Instead, you’ve created a make-work project that ensures police and social workers will have an endless supply of broken girls and women to rescue and restore.

Ms. Wynne and Mr. Naqvi, you were given a golden opportunity to protect Ontario’s young and vulnerable from human sex trafficking.  Your failure to do that has resulted in an unacceptable human toll.  The June 7^th general election will bring new opportunities to address this important human rights issue.  Whatever the political landscape, from that point on, I hope and pray we will have learned from our negligence, and, as a province, finally get it right.