VZCZCXRO3914
PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0285 0991611
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091611Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9323
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 1423
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0269
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1326
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEADRO/HQ ICE DRO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000285 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL, IO, AND WHA/CAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KTIP KWMN CA
SUBJECT: CANADA FIGHTING TRAFFICKING OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN 
AND CHILDREN 
 
REF: A. 08 OTTAWA 1546 
     ¶B. OTTAWA 151 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary: Canada's federal government will provide 
C$100,000 to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) to develop 
education and awareness programs to protect First Nations 
women and youth from trafficking and sexual exploitation. 
The grant supplements the federal government's partnership 
with the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) on the 
five-year "Sisters In Spirit" initiative (2005-2010) to 
prevent violence in aboriginal communities.  AMC leaders have 
been working closely with MP Joy Smith to combat human 
trafficking since Smith held a November 2008 conference on 
trafficking in Winnipeg.  AMC has also publicly endorsed 
Smith's private member's bill in the House of Commons to 
introduce mandatory minimum sentences for trafficking of 
minors.  The NWAC database includes 510 cases of murdered or 
missing aboriginal women, most in the western provinces of 
British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On April 6, Minister of State for Women Helena 
Guergis announced that the federal government would provide 
C$100,000 to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) to prevent 
the trafficking and sexual exploitation of aboriginal women 
and children.  The funds will come from the federal Women's 
Partnership Fund of Status of Women Canada.  The program will 
develop education and awareness programs and partnership 
networks to protect aboriginal women and youth.  According to 
Guergis, the program would "stop the exploitation of some of 
our most vulnerable women and children."  AMC Grand Chief Ron 
Evans underscored that "we know as First Nations that it is 
our collective responsibility to protect the most vulnerable 
among us."  Erin Wolski, Health Director of the Native 
Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), a national umbrella of 
thirteen aboriginal women's associations, emphasized to 
poloff that it will be important for the Chiefs fully to 
involve female aboriginal leaders in their decision-making 
processes. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Conservative MP Joy Smith (Kildonan-St. Paul) 
stressed publicly that "protecting aboriginal women and 
children from exploitation should be our top priority," and 
that "after years of combating human trafficking of 
aboriginal women, it brings me great relief to see 
substantial funding for this effort."  In November 2008, 
Smith had organized a national conference on human 
trafficking of aboriginal victims in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 
Smith and AMC Grand Chief Ron Evans have been working 
together to combat human trafficking since that conference, 
according to Smith's legislative assistant.  Evans has 
endorsed Smith's private member's Bill C-268, which would 
create mandatory minimum sentences of five years for 
trafficking victims less than eighteen years of age.  It 
remains under scrutiny in the House of Commons. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The federal government is also partnering with NWAC 
on the five-year "Sisters In Spirit" initiative (2005-2010) 
to improve the situation of aboriginal women (First Nations, 
Inuit, and Metis), and prevent violence in aboriginal 
communities, in particular the high rates of missing and 
murdered aboriginal women (ref a).  The NWAC database 
includes 510 cases of murdered or missing aboriginal women, 
Qincludes 510 cases of murdered or missing aboriginal women, 
of whom 340 have been identified as murdered and 127 as 
missing.  Of these, 134 were murdered and 49 disappeared 
since 2000.  Over half of the victims were under the age of 
thirty.  Most cases of murders and disappearances have 
reportedly occurred in the western provinces of British 
Columbia (136 cases), Alberta (85), Manitoba (69), and 
Saskatchewan (55). 
 
¶5.  (U)  The American Presence Post in Winnipeg contributed 
to this reporting. 
 
Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
 
HOPPER