On May 13, 2008, Imani Nakpangi became the first person in Canadian History to be convicted of human trafficking and received a three year sentence for the trafficking of a 15 year old girl he but was credited 13 months for pre-trial custody. Nakpangi made over $350,000 sexually exploiting this young girl for over two years before she was able to escape. Essentially he will spend less time in jail than he did exploiting her. 

"I feel unworthy, dirty, tainted, like nothing," said the girl publicly known as Eve in her court statement. "I feel I am only good for one thing – sex."

This kind of depredation of innocence brought about by human trafficking is one of the greatest tragedies taking place in our nation.

Human trafficking occurs today in Edmonton and throughout Canada. Not only are women and children trafficked into Canada from abroad, but Canadian women and children are also trafficked throughout our provinces and cities.

These victims aren’t just numbers and statistics. They are our mothers, wives, daughters and sons and they suffer horrific mental, physical and sexual abuse during their captivity.

The trafficking of a child is a terrible abuse of human rights. Canada has only seen two convictions of child trafficking (there are many more currently before the courts); however, the offenders in both cases received less time in jail for their crimes than they spent exploiting the young girls.

This is completely unacceptable!

I believe that Canada must make clear that it will not tolerate the trafficking of its children. Based on the recent convictions, I believe there is a need for Parliament to provide additional guidance to the courts on the trafficking of minors and formally denounce the trafficking of minors.

Conservative MP Joy Smith has worked tirelessly on this issue in developing Bill C-268 which demands a 5 year minimum sentence for the trafficking of minors in Canada for most cases and a 6 year minimum sentence for cases involving aggravated offences like assault or death.  The Bill was introduced and passed in the House of Commons last session and will now be reviewed by the Senate.

This is the kind of step forward in tackling crime that Conservative party members are taking and I believe that Canada needs.  I supported Joy Smith’s Bill C-268 and will continue to support this kind of effort and legislation.

How you can help make a difference:

• Join the “Support Bill C-268” group on Facebook.
• Write to the Prime Minister of Canada and the Justice Minister of Canada to voice your support of Bill C-268.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper or a national paper about human trafficking and Bill C-268.
• Sign a petition calling for Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to provide mandatory minimums for child trafficking.
• Talk to others about human trafficking and encourage them to make their voice heard.