Human trafficking arrest in Dundurn: RCMP

Saskatoon RCMP were called to a business in Dundurn for a report of a kidnapping around 5 a.m. on Wednesday.

Officers found an Ontario woman being held against her will. The Saskatchewan RCMP’s Human Trafficking and Counter Exploitation Unit was called in.

In the news release, RCMP said they, “Determined the woman had been forcibly taken from Toronto and that human trafficking had occurred in various locations in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.”

A 51-year-old from Chambly, QC was charged with the following:

• one count, trafficking in persons, Section 279.01, Criminal Code;
• one count, trafficking in persons – material benefit, Section 279.02(1), Criminal Code;
• one count, forcible confinement, Section 279(2), Criminal Code;
• one count, sexual assault, Section 271, Criminal Code;
• one count, sexual assault with other weapon, Section 272(1)(a), Criminal Code;
• one count, material benefit from sexual services, Section 286.2(1), Criminal Code;
• one count, obtaining sexual services for consideration, Section 286.1(1), Criminal Code;
• two counts, procuring, Section 286.3(1), Criminal Code;
• one count, uttering threats against a person, Section 264.1(1)(a), Criminal Code;
• one count, assault with weapon, Section 267(a), Criminal Code;
• one count, fail to comply probation order, Section 733.1(1), Criminal Code;
• one count, identity theft, 402.2(1), Criminal Code; and
• one count, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, Section 354(1)(a), Criminal Code.

He is in custody for his third court appearance on Nov. 5 in Saskatoon.

RCMP is asking anyone with information about this or any other human trafficking incident to call 310-RCMP.

Human trafficking cases in Saskatchewan are not unheard of

In July of 2023, the RCMP charged two men – 41-year-old Mohammad Masum and 52-year-old Sohel Haider – with human trafficking in connection with allegations of forced labour at three Saskatchewan restaurants.

On July 6, the RCMP said in a release that a woman from Bangladesh in Canada on a visitor’s permit was forced to work 10- to 12-hour days at restaurants in three different towns — Gull Lake, Elrose and Tisdale — after she applied for a restaurant job in Saskatchewan.

The RCMP said the woman stayed in a dark, unfinished concrete basement when she wasn’t working.

That case remains before the courts.

The provincial government has been taking some steps aiming to combat human trafficking within the province, including a poster campaign launched this year and the introduction in 2023 of the Protection from Human Trafficking (Coerced Debts) Amendment Act, 2023, which the province said will help reducing dependency between victims and their traffickers.

Last month, the provincial government announced $100,000 for the Maddisson Sessions, a human trafficking summit.

According to a news release from the provincial government, the organization “helps frontline investigators develop a network of contacts at a national level to work together to combat human trafficking, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.”

The Saskatoon Police Service has also implemented its own human trafficking response team.

In March, it’s Victim Services Unit received 2.5 years’ worth of federal funding for the new team, which will comprise two full-time positions.

“The Human Trafficking Responder will work alongside the SPS Vice unit investigators to provide immediate and specialized support to victims and survivors of Human Trafficking as well as assisting the Victim in navigating and understanding the justice system, therefore increasing the chance of conviction,” the release said.

In a 2023 interview, Savelia Curniski, founder of Saskatoon-based non-profit Nashi, which works with trafficked and at-risk girls in Ukraine and Canada, questioned whether human trafficking cases are flying below the public’s radar.

“I think Saskatchewan people have to become aware that it is happening in our backyard,” Curniski said.

“It’s extremely disturbing, but how many more girls and women are being trafficked into Saskatchewan? I think people just have to become aware.”

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Libby Gray and 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick

–Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Oct. 30, 2024, to correct a typo.