SoVote

Bonita Zarrillo

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
NDP

Port Moody—Coquitlam
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 67%
Expenses Last Quarter: $129,260.13

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

May/23/24 5:56:13 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Shefford for all the work she does to protect exploited women and persons in Canada. I really appreciate all of the hard work she does. New Democrats are supportive of measures that help victims receive justice through the justice system. This is why we wanted this bill to go to committee for study. The study was very important, and I believe that all members are committed to better laws that can truly protect people from human trafficking. This is one of the fastest-growing crimes in Canada, and it disproportionately affects women and girls. We heard from other speakers today that, in 97% of detected crimes, the victims of human trafficking were women and girls. As the member for Shefford said, a quarter of them are under the age of 18. This is children being exploited. It is a serious problem, and it must end. What we heard in committee and in the study is that the bill, as it stood, would not provide more resources for targeting trafficking units and for law enforcement, and it would not make the struggle against trafficking more effective. In addition, changing the legal definition could have unintended consequences, particularly for sex workers. We heard that in committee. My colleague from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke received a petition from more than 60 organizations asking us not to proceed with this bill without further consultation, and members of the House know that the bill reported back to the House reflected that. The Conservatives, though, are now ignoring important community input, which is usually a Liberal tactic, I will say, and are attempting to put back in the bill exactly what the justice committee took out of it. That approach is not helping victims. If the Conservatives want to protect trafficked victims, they need to start pushing for actions that would help address trafficking crime. This must be the goal, and it must be the goal for Canada. We must do this. Casting a broad net, as the original bill did, risks the mistake of defining all sex work as trafficking and missing actual cases of trafficking. When we think about young girls, children, we need to make sure that we can get at every case of trafficking. I will close by reiterating that additional enforcement resources are needed now, and additional services for survivors are needed now. These resource investments would have greater impact on reducing trafficking than any legislative change that would come from the bill.

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Context: House Hansard - 222 - Sep/21/23

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Sep/21/23 10:19:44 a.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-33

Madam Speaker, I am from the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, and in 2016 the port authority stopped funding its enforcement team. Four hundred thousand dollars was pulled out of enforcement at the port. It is a gap that still remains today. Could the member please let us know why the federal government is not funding additional enforcement when it knows there has not been enforcement in place for seven years?

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Context: House Hansard - 129 - Nov/17/22

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Nov/17/22 5:49:55 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-291

Madam Speaker, I wonder if the member could talk a little about how this bill will help enforcement and also for making sure children are safer.

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Context: House Hansard - 39 - Mar/2/22

Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)

Mar/2/22 6:56:12 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby and I share a border and the constituents in our ridings have a lot of similar sentiments. I know that, in the riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam, Anmore and Belcarra, many people were anxious and scared. They were feeling very uncomfortable with some of the symbols they were seeing, and they were worried about how this was going to potentially infect other communities in Canada and other trade corridors. I know that in B.C., we did experience shutdowns to our borders and trade corridors, all of it very, very difficult for folks to understand. That is why this committee is so important. One of the things that has come up a lot in the last three weeks is the different treatment of indigenous land defenders and environmental activists who are actively trying to protect their land. There is such a difference in the treatment from law enforcement agencies. I wonder if the member could let people in my community know if they will get answers to that disparity.

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Member of Parliament

Bonita Zarrillo