The hard-line of the Harper government on sex trafficking is one of the quiet accomplishments in their mandate. Human rights and freedom should be two ideas that are integrally entwined at the center of the Canadian approach to trafficking.
Most of the victims of human trafficking, queue-jumping Tamils aside, are innocent Asian and Eastern European women who have been suckered into believing a better life awaits them in this country.
The trouble is, once they arrive, they are forced to pay for their passage by prostituting themselves until they are burned out, drugged out and reduced to the value of trash.
Sun Media, particularly through award-winning reporter Tamara Cherry, has invested a lot of ink exposing the underbelly of sex trafficking in Canada (and, don’t forget, it happens at the domestic level too), so kudos to the Harper government for finally making a move on this sordid, underground economy.
But half measures will not do. When the Tories table their legislation, they must make the penalties for human smuggling so severe that the risk is not worth the reward.