No reasonable doubt as Tisdale human traffickers convicted: judge

She was brought to Gull Lake by Haider, to work at a restaurant there with a promise he would obtain her a work permit. She was promised $1,000 per month in wages and that her accommodation and food would be provided for her.

She worked 12-hour shifts for six days of the week with one 30-minute lunch break and had only Mondays off.

While she was working in Gull Lake, one of the regular customers in the restaurant, Saskatchewan MLA Douglas Steele learned she thought she might have to go home soon, because of her concerns over her work permit that Haider kept promising he was going to get, but showing no progress on doing so.

Steele gave her his card and told her to call if she had any problems.

Shortly after, against her wishes, S.K. was taken to Tisdale to work for Masum. She detailed in her testimony the multiple instances in which Masum sexually assaulted her and told her to keep quiet or he would not get her a work permit as he had promised to do.

In addition to long days at work, Masum told the victim that she would have to pay him thousands of dollars to get her work permit, a violation of Canadian law.

Eventually, she got her permit and continued to work at the Little Town Restaurant but asked Steele, whom she had remained in contact with, if there was a way for her to get a Canadian job with a Canadian employer.

Steele became concerned and asked another MLA, Hugh Nerlien, to check in with S.K. at her work in Tisdale. Nerlien did so, having lunch there with another man and gave S.K. his business card wrapped in a strip of paper that had the contact information for the local newcomer centre.

It was through contact with the manager of the centre that S.K. managed to break free from her situation and was taken to Swift Current by Nerlien’s constituency assistant. There, she was helped to get a new phone number, secure her bank account, get a health card and eventually get a new work permit.

The same helpers in Swift Current contacted the RCMP.

Canada’s Criminal Code defines human trafficking as the action of “recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing or harbouring a person, or exercising control, direction, or influence over their movement, for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation.”

No one can validly consent to being exploited. To prove the trafficking happened, the Crown only needs to show the accused did one of the listed actions, not all of them.

At home, S.K. had two master’s degrees, including in information science and library management and sociology. Her Muslim faith made her more susceptible to coercion, as did her lack of English skills when she first arrived in Canada.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22 in Saskatoon and both men are remanded until that date.

—

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

No reasonable doubt as Tisdale human traffickers convicted: judge

What's Trending