VZCZCXRO5327
RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHON #0165/01 1491932
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281932Z MAY 08
FM AMCONSUL TORONTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2506
INFO RUCNCAN/ALCAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC

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