I’m responding to the minister’s statement on human trafficking awareness.

We all agree that human trafficking is a despicable crime that is tragically common in Ontario, with 95% of trafficked persons being women, teenagers and marginalized groups, including Indigenous people.

When addressing trafficking, it is critical that we take a holistic approach: (1) We need education programs and community awareness to prevent trafficking, (2) we need enforcement to crack down on it, and (3) we need measures to assist those who have been trafficked.

Unfortunately, we often focus specifically on law enforcement approaches to trafficking instead of addressing every aspect of this vile crime. Prevention is an essential component of the fight against human trafficking. We must adequately educate our young people to help them avoid dangerous situations, both in person and online.

Supporting survivors is also critical. Survivors need access to housing, education and health care, and governments should be a partner in the provision of these services. One significant measure the government can adopt is to ensure that loans are not denied to survivors on the basis of debts forced onto them by abusers, thus revictimizing the survivors. There will be an opportunity to take that step later this week, and I hope we can move forward together on this. It is all too easy to forget that the important work of combatting trafficking doesn’t stop when an abuser is arrested. We must also work to fight the harm done and support victims as they rebuild their lives.