Human trafficking arrest in Dundurn: RCMP

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

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: “It was determined that the woman had been forcibly removed from Toronto and that human trafficking had occurred at various locations in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.”

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

• one count, human trafficking, Penal Code section 279.01;
• one point: human trafficking – material advantage, article 279.02, paragraph 1, Criminal Code;
• one charge, forcible confinement, section 279(2), Criminal Code;
• one count, assault, Penal Code section 271;
• one charge, assault with another weapon, section 272(1)(a), Criminal Code;
• one count: material gain from sexual services, section 286.2(1), Criminal Code;
• one count, obtaining sexual services for money, Criminal Code Section 286.1(1);
• two counts, procurement, article 286.3 (1), Criminal Code;
• one charge, making threats against a person, section 264.1(1)(a), Criminal Code;
• one count, assault with a weapon, Penal Code section 267(a);
• one count: failure to comply with probation order, Criminal Code section 733.1(1);
• one count, identity theft, 402.2(1), Penal Code; And
• one count, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, Section 354(1)(a), Criminal Code.

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

RCMP are 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 2023, the RCMP charged two men – 41-year-old Mohammad Masum and 52-year-old Sohel Haider – with human trafficking in connection with accusations of forced labor in three Saskatchewan residents.

On July 6, the RCMP said in a news release that a Bangladeshi woman in Canada with a visitor’s permit was forced to work 10- to 12-hour days at restaurants in three different cities – 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 was not at work.

That case remains in court.

The provincial government has taken some steps to combat human trafficking within the province, including a poster campaign launched this year and the introduction in 2023 of the Protection Against Human Trafficking (Forced Debt) Amendment Act, 2023, which the province says will help reduce dependency between victims and their traffickers.

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

According to a press release from the provincial government, “the organization helps frontline researchers develop a network of contacts at the national level to collaborate in the fight against human trafficking, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.”

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

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

“The Human Trafficking Responder will work with SPS Vice Unit investigators to provide immediate and specialized support to victims and survivors of human trafficking and assist the victim in navigating and understanding the legal system, thereby increasing the likelihood of conviction ,” the release said.

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

“I think people in Saskatchewan need to be aware of that it happens 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 need to become aware.”

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