Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. The time has come for Alberta to take a strong stand in the battle against sexual exploitation. 

This government should cut through the confusion, strengthen the laws, pursue prosecution, go after the gangs, support the victims, and educate the public about the issues.

To the Minister of Justice: in order to decrease victimization and sexual exploitation, will the minister and this government develop legislation that will address the proliferation of sexual massage parlors?

The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

Ms Redford: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This issue is important to all Albertans, and I want to commend the member on his statement today with respect to this issue. We in Alberta Justice and, indeed, this government take this issue very seriously. We believe that it’s about more than criminal prosecutions, and by that I don’t mean that we’re not prosecuting. What we are doing is supporting projects like Project Kare, which are integrated investigative teams that include senior counsel, senior investigators who are ensuring that we’re able to resolve these cold cases.

Dr. Taft: Well, Mr. Speaker, we want to be in a province where we don’t need Project Kare. That’s way too many victims. We want to stop the victims from turning up in the streets of this city. Will this minister work with municipalities, police, health officials, and other stakeholders to develop provincial standards that enable Alberta municipalities to better establish, investigate, and prosecute bylaws related to adult entertainment and sexual services?

The Speaker: The hon. minister.

Ms Redford: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the pieces of work that we’ve worked on very closely with police agencies in this province in the last two years is to ensure that their investigative teams are looking not only at what particular acts may be involved in running businesses such as massage parlors but also the environment, the actual, factual environment as to how people are functioning in these businesses so that they’re not exploited. We believe it’s very important to ensure that we’re creating a system where people are talking about this, understanding this, investigating this, and prosecuting.

Dr. Taft: Okay. Well, that sounds like a step in the right direction. Again to the same minister: given the power of public awareness and opinion, will the minister support a broader educational program about the risks and victims of sexual exploitation aimed at the demographic groups most likely to use these services?

Ms Redford: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think that’s a very good suggestion. We’ve certainly done a lot of work around this through the safe communities innovation fund. Just this evening one of our Crown prosecutors will be at the library speaking to victim sexual exploitation online. We’ll continue to do that work, and I’m happy to work with the member on that.

(continued)

Dr. Taft: Well, thanks, Mr. Speaker. Erotic massage parlours in Alberta are incubators for sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The victims are the sex workers, who are often coerced and entrapped by pimps, profiteers, and gangs. They are treated as if they are barely human. My first question is to the Minister of Employment and Immigration. Will the minister and his department investigate the number and welfare of foreign workers working in sexual massage parlours in Alberta?

The Speaker: The hon. minister.

Mr. Lukaszuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This hon. member brings up an issue that I think is important to all of us in this House. Just like our Justice minister, I would look forward to working with this member on ideas on how we can address this very important issue. But just to let you know, in our most recent federal-provincial-territorial ministers’ meeting the issue of identifying sex trade worker smugglers has been very high on the Canadian agenda. As a matter of fact, my department right now is training our front-line staff on how to identify situations where we suspect individuals have been brought in from abroad for the purpose of sex trade.

Dr. Taft: Great. Actually, that program is a good step in the right direction.

My next question is to the Solicitor General. Given that prevention is far better than treatment, will the minister use some of the $47 million surplus in the victims of crime fund to support the sex workers who are victimized in massage parlours with a program to help them escape from that business?

Mr. Oberle: Well, Mr. Speaker, we will work with all victims of crime in allocating that victims of crime fund. The member will know that we want to maintain some sort of a surplus there so that we can ensure the sustainability of that fund. But we’ll certainly look at the proposal.

Dr. Taft: Okay. I appreciate that.

My next question then is to the Minister of Health and Wellness. Given the health risks of sexual massage parlours, including the spreading of diseases like syphilis, which is on the increase in this province, will the minister direct his public health officials to use their full authority to clamp down on massage parlours as a public health risk?

Mr. Zwozdesky: Mr. Speaker, I believe the Minister of Employment and Immigration through his staff provide related health coverage or health services or something to that effect. I’ll discuss it with him, and we’ll figure out where it should go.

Alberta Hansard, March 16, 2010

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