VZCZCXRO4158
PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0304/01 1101352
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201352Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9347
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000304 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, INL, WHA/CAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KTIP KWMN CA
SUBJECT: OTTAWA WOMAN SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS FOR HUMAN 
TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: A. OTTAWA 151 
     ¶B. SCHRANK/FLECK 3/2 E-MAIL 
     ¶C. OTTAWA 285 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary: A Quebec court sentenced a Canadian woman 
to seven years in prison on April 9 for human trafficking and 
sexual exploitation offenses.  Her accomplice is scheduled to 
face charges in December.  This conviction further 
demonstrates Canada's progress and commitment in fighting 
human trafficking.  According to official information 
provided to post this week to supplement our Trafficking In 
Persons (TIP) report submission, Canada secured 12 
convictions in cases involving human trafficking or 
trafficking-related offenses during the 2008-2009 reporting 
period.  Sixteen accused individuals remain before the courts 
and numerous investigations are ongoing.  This reporting 
period has been a break-through year in Canada's efforts to 
combat human trafficking, with its first convictions under 
specific human trafficking provisions of the Criminal Code 
passed in 2005.  According to Department of Justice and NGO 
contacts, prosecutors and judges are gaining increasing 
familiarity with these provisions, which increases the 
likelihood of more cases and convictions in the future.  End 
summary. 
 
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL CONVICTION 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  A Gatineau, Quebec court sentenced Laura Emerson on 
April 9 to 7 years in prison for human trafficking and 
forcing three young women to work as sex slaves.  Her global 
sentence totaling 41 years will be served concurrently for 7 
years.  Emerson, who was first charged on August 12, 2008, 
spent eight months and ten days in prison waiting for the 
case to proceed.  Although the victims identities are 
protected under a publication ban, all three were reportedly 
under eighteen years at the time of the crime. 
 
¶3.  (U)  According to Gatineau police, Emerson abducted the 
victims from a shelter for young women in Ottawa and kept 
them in a Gatineau apartment, holding one of them for a year 
and two others for several months.  Emerson pled guilty to 
assault, forcible imprisonment and forcing the victims to 
perform sex.  She forced the victims to work eight to ten 
hours per day and to hand over their earnings, usually 
C$1000-2000.  The crown prosecutor noted that Emerson 
forcibly drugged her victims, and had recaptured and beaten 
the women after they tried escaping.  Emerson's accomplice 
Gordon Kingsbury faces charges of sexual assault, forcible 
confinement, and procuring prostitution from minors in a 
trial scheduled for December 15. 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY ENFORCEMENT DATA FOR THE TIP REPORT 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Department of Foreign Affairs and International 
Trade (DFAIT) contacts also provided information on April 16 
to supplement Post's (ref A) and Canada's (ref B) submissions 
for the Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report. There were 12 
cases of convictions for human trafficking or 
trafficking-related offenses during the 2008-2009 reporting 
period.  Four of these cases involved convictions under the 
new human trafficking-specific sections of the Criminal Code 
(279.01 through 279.04), and 8 cases involved convictions 
under trafficking-related offenses (such as child 
prostitution, procuring, living off the avails of 
prostitution, assault, uttering threats, extortion and 
forcible confinement).  These cases involved 12 offenders and 
at least 20 victims.  Offenders have been sentenced in eight 
of these cases to prison terms ranging from 9 months to 8 
years. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Thirteen cases of human trafficking remain before 
Q5.  (SBU)  Thirteen cases of human trafficking remain before 
the courts, involving 16 accused individuals and at least 17 
complainants.  The charges were laid in 2009 (four cases), 
2008 (five cases) and 2007 (four cases).  DFAIT contacts 
reiterated there are also numerous ongoing criminal 
investigations for human trafficking, as stated in our 
submission for the TIP report.  A Department of Justice 
Criminal Law Policy Section official told poloff that 
Canadian law prohibits the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 
(RCMP) and other law enforcement agencies from releasing 
further details of these ongoing investigations, such as 
whether they include cases of international victims or forced 
labor, until charges are laid.  (Note: The RCMP may not even 
divulge such details to the Department of Justice or DFAIT, 
according to Justice contacts.  End note.) 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Both Department of Justice officials and a former 
 
OTTAWA 00000304  002 OF 002 
 
 
Ontario provincial prosecutor who now heads an Ottawa NGO 
told poloff that as education efforts and precedents 
increase, prosecutors and judges will continue to become more 
comfortable pursuing cases under the new trafficking-specific 
sections of the law, rather than under general 
trafficking-related provisions with which they are more 
familiar.  Using the new trafficking-specific laws has shown 
that prosecutors and law enforcement are willing to pursue 
the most difficult cases, according to these contacts. 
 
COMMENT - STEADY PROGRESS IN COMBATING TIP 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Comment:  The Gatineau conviction is another 
encouraging sign of Canada's success in and commitment to 
prosecuting human traffickers.  It follows last year's 
ground-breaking convictions under trafficking-specific 
provisions of the Criminal Code passed in 2005.  In another 
important development, the federal government on April 6 
announced a first ever grant to combat trafficking of 
aboriginal women and children (ref c). 
 
Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
 
BREESE