R 150007Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL VANCOUVER
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5045
INFO ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
AMCONSUL VANCOUVER

UNCLAS VANCOUVER 000288 
 
 
STATE FOR INL/GTIP - FLECK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CA PGOV KTIP
SUBJECT: BRITISH COLUMBIA HOLDS CONFERENCE ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The BC Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons 
(OCTIP) held its first ever conference bringing together law 
enforcement, NGOs, academics, government and political 
representatives to share ideas and best practices on addressing 
human trafficking.  DPO and representatives of the Consulate 
Vancouver ICE office participated in workshops looking at issues 
from trafficking for sexual exploitation to labor trafficking, 
domestic trafficking, research and data collection and the 
difficulties of prosecution.  Most participants agreed that 
Canada now has adequate legislation to address trafficking 
issues.  The big problems lie in cooperation between police, 
NGOs and local government and the implementation of the 
legislation in legal enforcement and victims' assistance.  End 
Summary 
 
¶2. NGOs at the conference pushed hard on better treatment for 
trafficking victims.  It still remains the case that many 
victims, especially in the sex trade, are treated as criminals 
initially by police.  This causes them to be uncooperative and 
leads to missed opportunities for testimony against the 
traffickers. Training has become key to overcoming this problem 
Organization such as Servants Anonymous Society, have begun 
regular sessions with local police and prosecutors to help them 
learn to identify the signs of human trafficking and to develop 
skills to work with victims and develop trust.  Delegates at the 
conference also looked at ways existing human rights legislation 
can assist in better protecting trafficking victims in Canada. 
Christina Harrison-Baird, from Persons Against the Crime of 
Trafficking (PACT) noted that the law is most effective when it 
promotes in victims a sense of security and safety.  She stated 
that many international agreements have very permissive language 
allowing for "outs" for signatory countries.  Still the 
international agreements are tools that can and should be used 
to push for government action. 
 
¶3. An ICE official from the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver, along 
with Seattle-based U.S. Attorney Ye-Ting Woo and representatives 
from the Washington State NGO WARN, discussed cross-border 
cooperation in trafficking cases.  The ICE official described 
several successful cases that highlighted the good cooperation 
between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement on TIP.  The WARN 
representative discussed the importance of cooperation between 
the law enforcement and NGO community and the successes 
Washington State has had because they developed these all 
important relationships. 
 
¶4. In a key workshop entitled "The Elusive P - Prosecution," 
participants discussed the dearth of convictions under the 2004 
Canadian trafficking legislation. BC is considered a major 
transit area for TIP.  Law enforcement and judicial officials 
emphasized that because it's a transit area, it is difficult to 
prosecute traffickers on anything more than human smuggling; the 
actions that move the crimes into the TIP category (coercion, 
imprisonment, abuse, etc) have often not yet occurred at the 
time the trafficking is detected.  Prosecutors are left with no 
choice but to go with lesser charges because the victims don't 
realize what is ahead, even if the criminals are known to engage 
in trafficking.  They also noted that trafficking laws are, 
relatively speaking, new for Canadian law enforcement and police 
and prosecutors are still learning how to craft cases that will 
meet the standards of the legislation. 
 
¶5. Comment: The conference marked a giant leap forward for 
anti-trafficking action in British Columbia. Last year BC became 
the first province in Canada to open its own TIP office.  Since 
then the organization has made huge strides in reaching out to 
enforcement and assistance groups to develop a comprehensive and 
cooperative approach on trafficking issues.  BC historically has 
had a huge gap between law enforcement and prosecution on one 
side, and the NGOs working with the victims on the other.  We 
are starting to see this gap close.  The presence of so many 
NGOs and victims' assistance groups, as well as trafficking 
victims themselves, at the conference showcased the success 
OCTIP has had in bridging this gap and moving BC toward 
effective actions in combating trafficking. 
 
CHICOLA