2. Canada
Canada published a National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking in
2012.76 The Canadian Action Plan states that: "[t]he Government of Canada
recognizes the importance of developing holistic strategies that address the root
causes and risk factors that can lead to human trafficking and related forms of
exploitation, and that will assist in reducing the levels of victimization and the
harms associated with it."77
Canada will seek to prevent human trafficking internationally. The
Canadian government has explicitly stated that their actions are motivated by the
provisions of the Protocol:
Canada was among the first countries to ratify the Protocol, "Our efforts
are guided by this Trafficking Protocol and through a 4 pillar approach [that]
seeks to prevent trafficking from occurring, protect victims of human trafficking,
bring its perpetrators to justice and build partnerships domestically and
internationally." 78 Under the Children and Youth Strategy, the Canadian
Government supports a range of programs, which address the factors that make
children and youth vulnerable to human trafficking. These include investments
in health and education, and programs to ensure that schools are safe and free
from violence and which protect the human rights of children and youth.
Through this Strategy, the Government of Canada will support international
partners to increase capacity to prevent and combat human trafficking by
developing tools, resources and by providing training to properly equip partners
to review and design programs with consideration of unsafe migration and
human trafficking risks; ensuring investments include support for communitybased women and youth protection mechanisms; ensuring investments in
education include the systematic incorporation of curriculums that tackle safe
migration and human trafficking scenarios; and, ensuring birth registration is
included and promoted in bilateral partners' frameworks and throughout
programming.79
The Canadian Government recognizes the importance of addressing root causes and risk factors that lead to human trafficking. Further, the programs
envisioned by the Canadian Government include transnational prevention
programs in countries of origin. Canada is acting as though it has a shared
responsibility to prevent trafficking in countries of origin, although the
motivations for these actions are nebulous.