An advocate for survivors of human trafficking hopes a new piece of proposed provincial legislation will pass in order to stop creditors from pursuing debts fraudulently incurred while survivors were being trafficked by their captors.
Project Recover Executive Director Richard Dunwoody helped Ottawa-Vanier MPP Lucille Collard create Bill 99, which amends the Consumer Reporting Act and the Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking Act. The first reading of the bill was carried March 10.
“It prohibits creditors from knowingly pursuing debt that was incurred during the trafficking period, and it further prohibits creditors from reporting that debt on a credit report to the credit reporting agencies,” Dunwoody said, adding that the bill also provides for a tribunal process where a decision can be disputed or appealed by human trafficking survivors or creditors.
Dunwoody says the average debt faced by victims of human trafficking is $23,500. Since working with survivors to help rid them of fraudulent debt loads through Project Recover, Dunwoody has learned that credit cards taken out in the victim’s name by traffickers are routinely used to secure hotel rooms, cell phones, transportation and advertising on escort sites.
He says that federal and provincial governments also get a cut of the debt incurred by human traffickers through Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
“For every victim that is trafficked, the Ontario and federal governments make $14,454 in HST revenue,” Dunwoody said.
Along with a group of volunteers, Dunwoody works with banks, telecommunication companies, car rental companies and property managers to create a process to get rid of the debts on behalf of Project Recover’s clients.
The not-for-profit has helped 311 human trafficking survivors clear their debts since November 2019.
Dunwoody says that Bill 99 needs to see the light of day, but he feels the legislation - which has received support from the Liberals and New Democrats - will ultimately not go through without backing from the Conservatives.
“The only way to pass it is if the Conservative government, the Conservative MPPs like Ross Romano, sit there and say ‘no, let’s push this through,’” he said.
The head of Project Recover says that creditors, and even the Ontario Student Loan Assistance Program, still insist upon collecting debts from human trafficking survivors.
“There is a need to get this story in the public eye,” said Dunwoody. “That survivors of human trafficking continue to be pursued by the government and other creditors only extends their exploitation and hinders their ability to move forward.”
Bill 99 can be viewed in its entirety on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website.