Ontario NDP MPP Chris Glover joined advocates at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on Friday to celebrate the passage of new legislation that protects the survivors of human trafficking from debts incurred in their name.
The all-party Bill 41, which received royal assent on Monday, has been touted as “landmark legislation” that will serve as “a crucial step forward in the fight against human trafficking,” according to Richard Dunwoody, founder of Project Recover and the Concord Adex Survivors Fund, organizations that provide advocacy and support for survivors of human trafficking.
The bill establishes a legislative framework that will prevent lenders from collecting on the coerced debts of human trafficking survivors, while also prohibiting them from taking those debts into consideration when survivors apply for credit services and products.