Saskatchewan to follow Alberta’s lead on human trafficking legislation

The Government of Saskatchewan is in the process of developing legislation to combat human trafficking.

In a media release, Friday, Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said he had asked ministry officials to examine a bill recently passed in Alberta and use it as the basis for a similar bill in this province.

“Human trafficking is an insidious crime that can be challenging for the justice system to respond to as it ruins the lives of victims and their families,” Morgan said in the release.

“As we explore how this type of legislation can be passed in Saskatchewan, we will be taking the complex nature of human trafficking crime into account to ensure we can effectively address these challenges.”

The Alberta bill increases legal options for victims of human trafficking. It also gives police organizations more power to respond to human trafficking in addition to the powers they have under the Criminal Code.

“It’s important to provide victims with more protection and enable the court to grant warrants to enter properties or protection orders for people at risk,” Morgan said to media at the Saskatoon Cabinet Office Friday afternoon.

“We would not want to be the only jurisdiction choosing not to do this, then people would tend to gravitate to our province,” he said. “Our intention is to largely mirror what happened in Alberta, along with other jurisdictions as well.”

“This would be an add-on to what the federal government has done over the last number of years.”

Morgan added that he believes provincial officials are comfortable going ahead with this proposed bill.

“We want to start the process of consultation and do the necessary work to complete this,” Morgan said.

Morgan said Saskatchewan officials will be consulting members of the legal profession, police organizations and communities to discuss issues they believe should be included in any future legislation.