2nd Session, 41st Parliament,
Volume 149, Issue 157
Monday, June 22, 2015
The Honourable Leo Housakos, Speaker
Public Safety
Sex Tourism
Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, according to the Equality Now report, at least 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide into the commercial sex trade. In human trafficking cases, almost six in 10 survivors were identified as trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation.
In the past few sessions, we have passed many bills on sex trafficking. My question to the Leader of the Government in the Senate is this: What is the government doing to combat sex tourism?
[Translation]
Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): As you know, we passed a law against human trafficking, which you supported. We are going to continue to minimize the risk of sexual exploitation, particularly the sexual exploitation of children. We need to carry the torch and continue to play a leading role in the fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation. We are going to continue to strongly denounce such practices.
[English]
Senator Jaffer: Leader, I don’t know if you answered my question, but I will ask it again. Time and time again the people who work on these issues have said to us, “Embed a police officer in Thailand. Embed a police officer in the Dominican Republic. Embed a police officer in Cambodia.” If you are serious about sex tourism, what are you doing?
An Hon. Senator: Hear, hear!
[Translation]
Senator Carignan: As I said, we passed a law against human trafficking. We are going to continue to work to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation, particularly the sexual exploitation of children.
[English]
Senator Jaffer: Leader, I work with the International Justice Mission of Canada, which does great work in many places. I visited with them in Calcutta, and next week I’m going to the Dominican Republic, where they tell me that many Canadian men go to practise sex tourism. What are we doing to stop sex tourism in the Dominican Republic, where many Canadians are assaulting young girls and boys?
[Translation]
Senator Carignan: I repeat: we are going to continue our efforts on this issue through the legislation we passed to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation. We also passed a law to bring in harsher sentences and penalties. We are going to continue to strongly condemn any type of sexual exploitation, particularly the sexual exploitation of women and children.