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Human Trafficking in the hospitality industry

Human trafficking is one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal activities and it's happening in North Bay

North Bay, is not immune to the growing problem of human trafficking.

The launch of a new initiative focuses on awareness and spreading the word that human trafficking is happening right here in North Bay.

The tragic story of Leah St Jean, a local woman who got swept up into the world of human trafficking was shared with community partners, during the launch of an initiative concerning human trafficking at North Bay Police Service headquarters Thursday evening.

“Leah, unfortunately, met an individual that does not reside in our community that was here for not a good purpose, and that individual removed her from the community and brought her to Toronto. And it was a short time after she was in Toronto, that we started getting some information about her being a victim of human trafficking,” shared Sergeant Brad Reaume.

The story took a tragic turn when on January 22, 2021, Reaume was contacted by police in Toronto asking that he notify St. Jean’s family of her death.

The Toronto Police Service told the Sergeant that the 32-year-old North Bay woman had been shot and killed, and that a man had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.  

As the trial in Toronto proceeded, further charges were laid.

“It was identified she was also a victim of human trafficking.”

Reaume says the matter is still before the courts.

The Sergeant further explained that as a police service, a significant amount of time and effort had gone into trying to locate and aid St. Jean, but because she was moved around so much, they were unable to locate her.   

“We actually had a team ready to attend Toronto and get her out. We were going there to take her from the situation. The problem is she was transient. She was going from hotel to hotel, to hotel. And nobody called. Nobody made a notification that something weird was going on.”

Getting that notification is crucial information no matter the community.

“We hear stories of women leaving our community to be involved in this type of activity in other communities,  but also other women from other communities also enter our community to participate in these actions too,” say police.  

The impact on the community, and the lives that have been changed when something like this happens, is enormous.

“We have a father and a mother here whose lives will be forever altered by the impact that this has had on their family. Anybody who has known Leah, and there have been many, their lives have also been altered by this crime.”    

The launch of an initiative to combat human trafficking will take a multi-faceted approach.

Police say hotels, motels, and vacation rentals are highly used by human traffickers and, specifically human trafficking exploitation into the sex trade because they go unnoticed. There is a sense of anonymity there because they often blend in with others.     

The launch of the local initiative began when the Community Drug Strategy Committee was approached as part of an enforcement pillar initiative to help combat human trafficking, by providing resources.

A committee worked on developing those resources which include a pamphlet,  stickers, and a notice which hangs off door handles, similar to the Do Not Disturb cards.

Written on these resources is notice that “This location reports all suspected human trafficking. If you suspect an incident of human trafficking or are a victim of human trafficking, please call” followed by three potentially life-saving phone numbers.

“They will take those and go into all the hotels, and bed and breakfast places and ask them to display them in their facility. It is for information sharing,” explained Pat Cliche coordinator of Community Drug Strategy North Bay and Area.

“What we’re trying to do is get more awareness out there on human trafficking. It does happen primarily in hotels and Airbnbs,” said Constable Darcy Wall of the North Bay Police Service who has personally worked on similar cases.

The initiative has community partners taking a more proactive approach in dealing with the situation.

“Hotels are a bit more regulated than Airbnbs are, so it is a little bit better for us to get this initiative out to them. And it is just to make everyone aware this is what you look for and that this could possibly be happening. It could be somebody’s sister or daughter or whoever, and you just want to make sure these people are safe and try to get them away from their trafficker,” said Wall.

“So the more people we have looking at the signs of human trafficking, the better it is going to be. I’m talking about people who are renting the rooms, I’m talking about the hotel staff, anybody there. It is important for us to get more eyes on what is happening. And it is never wrong to call police about it because I would hate to think we’re passing up on an opportunity to help somebody.”  

Detective Constable Matti Primeau of the Anishinabek Police Service says despite human trafficking having a long history, many people are just learning about it now.  

“I don’t know why it isn’t talked about more because it is in our communities, and our girls and women are being affected by it. So this initiative is important to me and to our team because it is the first point of contact for people who are exploited in the sex trade, to see the opportunity to contact someone, or know that there are services available to them if they choose to use them,” said Primeau.

“I think it also will let people know that our hotels here in North Bay, our motels, our vacation rentals will report all suspected human trafficking so it might just divert them to another area, crime displacement, but we’re hoping to eventually do something to stop it. If it helps just one person leave their trafficker, we did our job.”

Victims often suffer emotional and physical abuse.

“The traffickers will instill fear, use force, and intimidate victims to the point where they feel trapped. And that is their goal, giving them no opportunity to leave because they’re making money off these girls through exploitation,” shared Primeau.

“So they’ll take their identity, their passports, their bank cards, their money, their cellphones. They’ll isolate them from their family, they’ll isolate them from every support they have to the point where the person being exploited feel they have nowhere to go.”

Leah’s father Lloyd St. Jean and her step-mother attended Thursday’s launch.

“It is definitely a good thing because there’s no reason for anybody to do something they’re not supposed to be doing. It’s just not right,” said St. Jean.

“They move around a lot. They don’t stay in one motel, they move every night. My daughter was moved quite a few times.”

Step-mother Karen Schreck also supports the initiative.

“I hope it makes a big difference in a lot of girls' lives. It is well overdue and people need to know what is going on in our small town.”    

The police chief explained human trafficking as a human phenomenon that involves maintaining illegal use of labour and other services of a person in violation of an individual's human rights.

“Generating billions of dollars in profits every year, human trafficking is one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal activities operating on the same scale as the illegal gun trade and the illegal drug trade,” said Police Chief Scott Tod of the North Bay Police Service.

It is estimated 96 per cent of victims are women and girls, with the largest age group between 18 and 24 years.

The North Bay police chief explains the importance of everyone getting on board.  

“And not only parents and educators but other people in our community including commercial establishments, hotels, the accommodation industry to understand what human trafficking is, will help us identify instances of it in our community and allow us to respond to it to keep our citizens safe including our     younger women.”

The North Bay Police Service has received money from the Provincial Strategy on Anti-Human Trafficking in collaboration with other police services. It is led by the Ontario Provincial Police.

“We have some money that has been allocated to us. We have determined internally within the service that sharing a message to our community is very important, but also training our officers, ” said Police Chief Scott Tod.

“So the first aspect of that will be in regards to developing proper messaging and training programs and then delivering it to our officers first so that they are able to respond at all levels to complaints of human trafficking or signs of human trafficking that get reported to us, that includes dispatchers.”

The Police Chief says the second part will be working with their community partners and “developing a message to them about what they can do and how we can work more collaboratively together. And that is what that money will be used for.”    

If you suspect an incident of human trafficking or are a victim of human trafficking call local police at 9-1-1, Victim Services at 705-472-2649 or Crime Stoppers at 1(800) 222-8477.

All information is confidential.