JUST Committee Report

Review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act:

Conservatives’ Dissenting Report

Introduction

Since 2014 the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act has been a crucial tool to protect Canadians from sexual exploitation and intervene in the buying and selling of human beings. This law protects those who receive money from the sale of their own sexual services from criminal liability while targeting the pimps and johns, the majority of which are men, who exploit and traffic humans, the majority of which are women and girls.

In the committee’s study of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, committee members did not hear from many victims and survivors of the sex trade in Canada due to the very nature of the illicit industry. Alexandra Stevenson (Ford), a public speaker, survivor and prevention specialist told this committee that there would not be many voices like hers “not because there are fewer of us, but because we are less likely to have freedom to speak out, for reasons ranging from shame to fear to death.”

Conservatives’ Recommendations

Recommendation 1:

That the Government of Canada keep the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act enshrined in law. The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act confirms to Canadians, and particularly women and girls, that they are valuable and worthy of protection.

Andrea Heinz, a published scholar and former sex worker, stated that “repealing the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act means that Canada has no tools for the coercion that is happening, the pimping and the profiteering. These are addressed through the advertising, procuring and material benefit offenses, sections 286.4, 286.3 and 286.2 respectively. Full decriminalization is what exploiters and profiteers pray for.”

Recommendation 2:

That the Government of Canada acknowledge that the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act is a crucial tool that protects women and girls and criminalizes exploiters and traffickers.

Ms. Heinz described the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act as a well-written and balanced law. She also emphasized the importance of deterrence, stating that “with no social deterrent, sex buying is given the green light. This money incentivizes exploiters to cash in and more agencies and brothels to open, and pimping and trafficking increase as a result to meet an unfettered demand for women’s bodies.”

Suzanne Jay, collective member of Asian Women for Equality, told the committee that “The act is the only law that targets the sex buyer. You might hear opinions that a human trafficking law is enough, but that law focuses on only the traffickers. A human trafficking law gives a free pass to the man who buys sex from a trafficked woman.”

Recommendation 3:

That the Government of Canada refrain from decriminalizing or legalizing the buying and selling of mostly women and girls in Canada.

Referring to the passing of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act in 2014, educator Cathy Peters stated that “The clear statement from Parliament was that girls and women in Canada are not for sale: They are full human beings with dignity and human rights.”  Decriminalization would communicate that the opposite is true.

Recommendation 4:

That the Government of Canada acknowledge the inherent involvement of human trafficking within the sex work industry and consider the varying degrees of coercion that individuals who have entered into the sex industry have faced, nullifying the myth that sex work is consensual and could possibly be made to be a safe working environment.

Ms. Stevenson stated that “Some workers may have chosen their work, but they chose it because they were desperate or in survival mode, and a choice made in desperation is no choice at all.”

Recommendation 5:

That the Government of Canada should promote the consistent application of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act across the country, including by providing training for the various points of contact that victims and survivors may experience including law enforcement agencies, councillors, social workers and individuals within the justice system.

Trisha Baptie is a survivor and founding member of Formerly Exploited Voices Now Educating. She testified to the committee that “..this law has not been applied across the country in any uniform way. It has not been given an opportunity to create real change or benefit those who need it. There is no way we can have reliable statistics on the effect of this law when there are some parts of the country that still haven't even heard of it. We need more time with this law to watch it grow, to have it fully take hold and to help change society.”

Recommendation 6:

That the Government of Canada not decriminalize sex work for migrant workers. Decriminalizing the sex trade of migrants in Canada would put these vulnerable individuals even further at risk but on a global scale. Lynne Kent, Chair of the Vancouver Collective Against Sexual Exploitation described the consequences of decriminalization, stating that “Canada would become the brothel of North America—there is no question about that—and we would be the best sex tourism destination for the world.”

Ms. Stevenson also raised the concern of the dangerous position that Canadian communities would be in if the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act were to be repealed, stating, “I think it's fair to say that if there are barriers to access in one area, say the U.S., and you don't have barriers in Canada, people are going to go where there are fewer barriers to access what they're looking for, which is the purchase of sex.”

Recommendation 7:

That the Government of Canada develop ongoing national public awareness campaigns to inform Canadians, and particularly vulnerable youth, of the red flags and risks of sexual exploitation and trafficking. Content should be developed for both adults and youth in collaboration with affected stakeholders including provinces and territories and individuals with lived experience.

Paul Brandt is a Canadian Musician and founder of the organization #NotInMyCity that works to end sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. He shared with this committee how the Province of Alberta is using this Act to make their communities safer, stating, “I would say my home province of Alberta has made great strides in the last five years by uniformly and consistently applying the tenets of the PCEPA, and the momentum is changing communities for the better. We're seeing a lot of co-operation. Recently, #NotInMyCity introduced the position “safety network coordinator” through the Alberta law enforcement response team, ALERT, which handles crimes of this nature and organized crime. The safety network coordinator assists those wanting to exit the sex industry and was introduced by the Alberta law enforcement response team to be there to effectively and efficiently intervene.”

Recommendation 8:

That the Government of Canada study and adapt the successful strategies and programs implemented in the province of Alberta that assist victims and survivors in exiting the sex trade, as well as the education programs developed and implemented by the Joy Smith Foundation.

Former Member of Parliament Joy Smith is the Founder and President of the Joy Smith Foundation, which was founded in 2011 to combat human trafficking. Referring to the implementation of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, she told this committee that “It was the catalyst that set the groundwork for so many victims of human trafficking to be able to speak out and bring their perpetrators to justice. It helped me, when I was a member of Parliament, to bring the survivors' voice to the public radar screen.”