Foundation continues fight to combat human trafficking
OTTAWA, ON—A Conservative MP from Winnipeg who is passionate about ending human trafficking has launched a new foundation to continue her fight.
Joy Smith (Kildonan-St. Paul) says her Christian faith motivated her to create The Joy Smith Foundation, which she launched in the fall.
"As a Christian, we only have short time on this earth, and we all have an expiry date," she says. "Then we're accountable for what we do, and we need to look back and know that our lives meant something.
"I just had to [create] an example that had nothing to do with politics, but had to do with the heart about what a Christian should be and do," she adds, "because everything I do is based on my Christian faith."
According to its mission statement, Smith's foundation "works to ensure that every Canadian man, woman and child is safe from manipulation, force, or abuse of power designed to lure and exploit them into the sex trade or forced labour."
The foundation does this by "educating the public, and providing funds and support to front-line organizations that rescue and rehabilitate victims and safeguard all Canadians from human trafficking."
This past June, Smith made Canadian history as the only MP to pass two private member's bills, Bill C-268 and Bill C-310, which amend the Criminal Code.
The first bill created a new offence for child trafficking with a five-year mandatory penalty. The second bill adds human trafficking to the list of offences that law enforcement is able to prosecute Canadian criminals for if they happen to commit the offense outside of the country.
Last year also saw the release of Connecting the Dots, a national action plan that Smith wrote the blueprint proposal for. The plan commits $25 million over four years to combat human trafficking.
Still, with all her success in Ottawa, Smith thought it was important to start a non-partisan foundation dedicated to the cause.
"You can put all the laws in the world in, but government money at any level runs out eventually and it's not consistent," she says. "What I'm concerned about are the victims of this crime. They need counselling, they need food and clothes, they need safe places they can be."
Smith has spent thousands of dollars of her own money over the past number of years paying for victim rehabilitation, and believes the foundation will be able to do even more good. It already gave out its first cheque on November 1, 2012 to an organization in Toronto called Walk With Me, which works with human trafficking victims.
Smith says she feels good knowing she is doing what God called her to do.
"I don't think I'm very good at politics, to be honest with you, but I got two good bills through and a national action plan through, and now [human trafficking is] on the national radar screen," she says. "The next step was to start a foundation. That has everything to do with what a Christian should do, and that is take care of those who can't take care of themselves."
She adds that Christians can work toward ending human trafficking by praying and educating themselves on the topic.
"It takes a nation to stop this, so we're going to have to join forces and make sure we eliminate human trafficking in Canada," Smith says. "We're a leading country and we're supposed to be the True North strong and free."
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