When Barrie police swept into a home where dozens of workers from Mexico were being crudely housed in between working shifts at Simcoe County motels and offices in February 2019, its human trafficking unit was just months old.
It was ultimately revealed that this large group of men and women were tricked into coming to Canada, paying for the opportunity. Instead of being properly housed and working in the jobs they were promised, they were given sparse accommodations and crudely compensated for working long hours, often seven days a week.
Four people have been charged and are still before the courts.
The exploitation of human beings is not unique, said Det.-Const. Michelle Jansen of the Barrie police human trafficking unit. And although the dedicated human trafficking unit is relatively new, the function and role of investigating human trafficking has been around much longer.
The discovery of the 54 foreign nationals from Mexico involved several other investigating bodies and extended into other parts of Simcoe County.
“While that large-scale investigation was going on, there were still other investigations coming in and it was decided by Barrie police that an actual human trafficking unit was to be created as opposed to just a portfolio in our street crimes division,” explained Jansen.
It wasn’t the only abusive labour situation that has surfaced locally.
In April, two women in Bradford were charged with human trafficking in connection with the mistreatment of six workers who were also from Mexico. South Simcoe police allege they were brought to Canada under the promise of decent work and housing, but were paid little, poorly housed and were threatened with deportation.
While there have been other instances of human trafficking using people for cheap or free labour, officials say a more prevalent form of human trafficking is using people to work in the sex trade.
In July, a woman who pleaded guilty to a raft of theft charges in a virtual Barrie courtroom described some of the turmoil she endured. Her lawyer told the court she was the victim of a human trafficking ring and had the option of stealing or “servicing men."
She was also horribly abused and injured.
The Simcoe County crimes were part of an Ontario-wide spree resulting in about 250 charges in the Sudbury area, Hamilton, Toronto, Halton and Peel regions, as well as Barrie and Midland.
“The majority of our cases are of sexual exploitation,” explained Det.-Const. Jansen. “In March, we had our first guilty plea in regards to human trafficking within Simcoe County.”
That involved a domestic relationship centring around a man with drug-addiction issues who had his partner provide sexual services. The man took all of the proceeds, leaving the woman struggling to pay her own bills.
“These crimes are amongst the worst that can be committed,” she said. “On a daily basis, we’re getting tips or people calling in for advice.”
People, Jansen added, are now more aware of these risks and are more likely to report concerns.
There is also an increased awareness with supports in place and a more coordinated effort. Barrie police is part of a local committee made up of a variety of local service organizations that meet regularly to discuss issues and approaches to human trafficking in this area.
Earlier this year, the Ontario government announced a $307-million anti-human trafficking plan, which included funding for victims services across the province.
On Monday, it announced that two new programs are part of that plan.
An Indigenous-focused anti-human trafficking educational campaign, designed by and for Indigenous people, that provides information about sexual exploitation and human trafficking — how to recognize it, why Indigenous people may be particularly vulnerable to being targeted and where to go for help.
A digital education tool has also been developed to raise awareness about sex trafficking among middle and high school-aged children and teens. The interactive tool allows youth to experience what it feels like to be targeted and recruited by a sex trafficker through an immersive chat experience.
In discussing provicial initiatives to fight the problem, Premier Doug Ford said the average age of recruitment into sex trafficking is 13. Young women and girls are considered particularly vulnerable.
“As an organization that provides service to children and youth up to 24 years of age who have been physically and/or sexually exploited, we are acutely aware that this is the preferred age group that are preyed upon by human traffickers,” said Marg Schreurs, interim executive director of the Child Advocacy Centre Simcoe/Muskoka, one of the local organizations that provides supports to victims.
Vulnerable youth can be lured by the promise of friendship, affection, gifts and money and are tricked into trafficking, making it difficult and unsafe to escape, she said. The concern is that young people are being exploited, controlled, harmed mentally and physically, resulting in potentially long-term implications on various domains of their life.
When victims of trafficking are moved from place to place — sometimes to such an extent that they no longer know where they are from one day to the next. — it can be a challenge for police.
Just last week, a Richmond Hill man was arrested on human trafficking charges. Police were called to a hotel in Orillia where they found a woman in her 20s in distress. An Ontario Provincial Police spokesman said officers identified factors of human trafficking, including how the woman was dressed, how long her stay at the hotel was and what time of day the incident occurred.
A trafficked victim may be fearful and anxious, often have minimal clothing not appropriate for the weather or is dressed provocatively. Even though they’re wearing makeup and jewelry, they have no money to support themselves. And because they are worked as much as possible to maximize profits for the handler, there may be signs of malnutrition, said Det. Staff Sgt. Coyer Yateman, of the OPP’s anti-human trafficking unit.
“In Ontario, what you’re typically seeing is more of a psychological hold, almost like a boyfriend approach where the victim depends upon them,” said Yateman.
The unit has policing and civilian support and it works closely with the province’s other police forces to better deal with rings that move their victims place to place to work.
Police are anticipating the announcement of additional funding to help police services from different geographic locations with enforcement and dealing with multi-jurisdictional investigations.
“It takes a considerable amount of resources and co-ordination,” he said. “We’re going to have a provincial team that is hopefully going to be available starting in early 2021 that is going to do strictly multi-jurisdictional investigations.”
