Excellent chat with Marc Klaas last night. I understand Tricia will be posting a transcript of the chat. Presumably it will be in this thread or on the main board.
I'm in Canada and have been researching the missing/murdered women cases in western Canada for approx. 5 years. It has been a natural progression to have an interest in the potential for Human Trafficking to be related to some of these cases. Due to the sensitivity of the research and some of the findings, it is exceptionally frustrating for me to keep a lot of info close to the vest out of concern of being identified. So, I have to stick to generalities.
Because Human Trafficking is of global concern, my question to Marc was to the effect "given an HT taskforce in Canada investigating 2 HT rings, and our proximity to the US and our shared border, are US and Canadian HT taskforces working together on the issue?". Marc's response was that he did not know but if not, they should be. As this thread grows, and while keeping the global aspect in mind, I will try to share from a Canadian perspective.
Bill C-268 is intended to establish minimum sentencing for those involved in HT (believe it or not, Canada currently has no mandatory minimum sentence !!! We Canucks are sooo nice, eh?). This bill recently received third reading in the House of Commons [239 yeas / 46 nays ... am checking into those 46 nay-sayers as we speak. Just kidding
] C-268 is currently awaiting a Senate vote to be passed into law.
For Canadians wishing to see how their MPs voted on the 3rd reading:
http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/vote.php?id=766
Excellent Canadian site for info related to HT:
http://www.canadafightshumantrafficking.com/index.html
Recent article "As Olympic flame burns, Canada's sex industry heats up ..."
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/...ame-burns-canada-s-sex-industry-heats-up.aspx
One well-publicized Canadian case (thanks to a Mom who never gives up hope and never quits) is that of Jessie Foster who is believed to be a victim of HT between Canada and the US:
www.jessiefoster.ca