Photography by: Archive, Calgary Herald
While there are currently three charges of human trafficking in Alberta related to labour, Staff Sgt. Jim Gamlin with the RCMP said the size of the problem is difficult to pinpoint.
“We are still trying to get a grasp about what the problem is and it’s very difficult because it is so unbelievably clandestine so it’s difficult to say definitively this is the extent of the problem,” said Gamlin, who handles immigration and passport issues for the police force in the Prairie provinces and northern territories.
“The criminals involved in this are unbelievably sophisticated and savvy and they are devoting a lot of attention to, ‘How can I benefit from this.’ ”
The problem of human trafficking, touted as modern slavery, was the focus of a discussion Friday involving Gamlin, Manitoba Conservative MP Joy Smith and Lara Quarterman from the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking. They were in Calgary for the 2011 GlobalFest Human Rights forum.
Gamlin said one active case in Alberta involves men who were brought to Canada from Poland with promises of work and education. He said the perpetrators stole the wages from the workers.
“In the course of a year, there was close to a million dollars potentially garnished,” he said.
While each case is different, Gamlin said there are a few commonalities.
Each case starts with a promise of a better life, he said, followed by transport to Canada and then a change of perspective that causes the victim to understand he or she will not get what they were promised.
This is typically followed by verbal threats and more promises to keep the people here.
Quarterman said the scope of the problem is unknown because criminals use fear to intimidate victims who are wary of alerting authorities.
“We grew up in Canada, we look at the RCMP as the Mounties, the law enforcement,” she said. “People come from where government authorities are not to be trusted with high level corruption.
“In their head, they aren’t going to Alberta Employment and Immigration because they are going to deport me or because they are going to extort money from me,” Quarterman added.
She said anyone can be a victim of human trafficking, and it’s not just trafficking for sexual reasons.
There are currently two bills in place in Canada regarding human trafficking, and Smith, an advocate against human trafficking, said another is on the horizon.
bforbes@calgaryherald.com
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