I also want to talk about some of the successes, like some of the things that can happen because this legislation is being passed and some of the successes that Project Recover accomplished, even before this legislation. So, in the last few years, Project Recover has helped more than 500 survivors to expunge $3.5 million in coerced debts. They’ve provided housing for students. Richard Dunwoody is very proud of the success that these survivors have accomplished. He sent me one time—and I think he sent it to all of us—the report card from one of the survivors who had her coerced debt expunged, and she had a 99% average. Another one is running her own business now. So this is the kind of success that this kind of legislation can unleash.

It’s not for everyone. For the most part Project Recover has been quite successful, because most financial institutions in this province are willing to expunge those debts when they realize that they were fraudulently incurred or that it was part of human trafficking. There are some that are a bit resistant, and this legislation is to deal with that resistance so that nobody who’s a survivor of human trafficking has to deal with those debts.

I would just say, in closing, this is an important step and I want to thank the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock for her continued advocacy for survivors of human trafficking and to bring and end to human trafficking. There’s other things that we need to do as well. We need to restore the victim compensation program, because survivors need some money to get started. When they escape their trafficker, they need money to get started and to rebuild their lives. It’s not just survivors of human trafficking, it’s all victims of violent crime who need that compensation to be restored.

We need Ontario Works and ODSP rates to be increased. Many of the survivors that Richard Dunwoody met in the shelters were living on Ontario Works. The shelter allowance for Ontario Works is $390 a month. That’s another reason why they were stuck in the shelters and not able to move out. You cannot rent anything, anywhere in Ontario, to live in for $390 a month. So, Ontario Works and ODSP rates need to increase. He said that 87% of the survivors that he met initially were on Ontario Works and ODSP. Those rates have to be increased.

The other thing that Richard has asked us is that we need to make sure that staff in banks, in hotels and in government agencies are trained to recognize the signs of someone being trafficked. He gave an example of a woman who was a victim, who was taken into a bank and asked to sign a credit card loan. When she resisted, the trafficker actually twisted her arm and forced her to sign. We need to make sure that banks, government agencies, and hotel staff recognize the signs that someone is being trafficked so that they can alert the police and the authorities, and that we may be able to get that person out of that situation. This is an important step.

Again, thank you to everybody for bringing it to this point, but there are many other steps that we also need to take to bring an end to human trafficking in Ontario.

Today, the members in the Legis-lature are wearing purple scarves in honour of the Wrapped in Courage campaign. And today, we have many agencies that support female victims of violence and that are also fighting for an end of violence against women. This Wrapped in Courage campaign was organized by the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses. They note that it takes an entire community to bring an end to gender-based violence, and they’re asking everyone to support survivors of gender-based violence and become part of Ontario-wide efforts to bring an end to this violence. They’re in the House today, and I met some of them before this, just a few minutes ago.

That they’re in the House today is very auspicious, because this morning we had the third reading of Bill 41, which is a bill to bring an end to coerced debts for survivors of human trafficking. This bill was passed by all parties. It’s an all-party bill, and we’re looking forward to the implementation so that survivors who are encumbered by debts from their trafficking, by their traffickers, will have those debts expunged so that they can get on with their lives.

I want to thank all of the agencies who are here for the Wrapped in Courage campaign for all of the work that you do to provide supports to women who are victims of abuse, and also to survivors of human trafficking. Thank you for being here.

We’re looking all looking forward to the day—November 25, we will note that it’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It’s a day that we should all recognize and all commit ourselves to do our part to bring an end to gender-based violence.