On Parliament Hill

Last week, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer announced his plan to protect vulnerable people by combatting human trafficking.

Approximately 2,000 people are trafficked in Canada each year. 95% of those being trafficked are women, and more than a quarter of the victims are under the age of 18. Indigenous Canadians are disproportionately impacted, representing half of all victims.

For the last three and a half years, human traffickers have received the message that fighting their crimes is not a priority. The Trudeau Liberals not only cancelled our previous Conservative Government’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, with Bill C-75 they lowered the Criminal Code penalties for those profiting from human trafficking from an indictable offense to the option of a mere fine. What’s more, just last week, the Liberals said they want to repeal most minimum sentences in the Criminal Code. That will mean lighter sentences for gun crimes, drug crimes, and violent sexual offences.

Canadians deserve to feel safe where they live and to know that their government takes heinous crimes seriously. A Conservative Government will ensure that our prosecutors have the strongest laws behind them to keep human traffickers off our streets.

Our plan consists of the following proposals:

1. Renew the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking: A Conservative government will renew the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking with robust funding for law enforcement, survivor rehabilitation and public awareness.
2. Strengthen Criminal Code provisions against human trafficking: A Conservative government will amend the human trafficking offence in the Criminal Code to reflect the international definition of human trafficking in the Palermo Protocol which would empower our justice system to secure more convictions.
3. Ensure that human traffickers receive consecutive sentences for their crimes: Every girl, boy, woman and man trafficked in Canada deserves justice. When sentencing human traffickers, the trauma that they have endured must be taken into account. A Conservative government will put victims first and ensure that human traffickers receive sentences that reflect the gravity of their crimes.
4. End automatic bail for those charged with human trafficking offences: Those who literally sell other people into slavery need to know that the full weight of the Canadian justice system is waiting for them. A Conservative government will put the safety and well-being of victims ahead of those who traffic them and end automatic bail for those charged with human trafficking.

Andrew Scheer also outlined our Conservative plan to help combat child sexual abuse. As with human trafficking, the wounds of sexual abuse last a lifetime and the penalty should fit the crime. We will ensure that the voices of victims are heard and that sentences for sexual crimes against children take into account the length and severity of the abuse by adding aggravating factors to the Criminal Code.

We will end the practice of giving those who harm children a mere slap on the wrist, by ensuring that anyone who is convicted of a serious sexual offence against a child serves adequate time in prison.

A Conservative Government will always put the rights of victims ahead of the rights of criminals. We will ensure that Canada’s justice system reflects the value of every child across the country.