SoVote

Bonita Zarrillo

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
NDP

Port Moody—Coquitlam
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 68%
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.
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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.

422 words

Context: House Hansard - 229 - Oct/4/23

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

Oct/4/23 4:38:11 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-12

Mr. Speaker, I know that the hon. member and I have an unfortunate situation in the Lower Mainland, which we represent, which is sextortion of children. Therefore, the timeliness of this could not be better, and it is important that we protect victims now to make sure that there are not victims in the future. There was a study. The member said that they would like to see some data, but I understand that there was a study that came out of the justice and human rights committee, and that there was a unanimous recommendation, number 11 of that study, to amend section 486.4 of the Criminal Code to allow for victims of sexual assault to opt out of a publication ban and take back their agency. Given that this is an ask that has long been advocated by victims' rights groups, will my colleague in the Conservative Party vote to support the passing of this bill?

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All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 76 - May/20/22

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

May/20/22 11:25:23 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of young women in my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam who have expressed to me sincere concern regarding the Supreme Court of Canada ruling on self-induced intoxication in cases of violent crimes. Youth-led, non-profit BOLT Safety Society wrote to me stating, “Court decision threatens Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights, which affirms everyone the right to life, liberty and security. In no manner does defending perpetrators for their conscious choice of self-intoxication guarantee Canadians this right, and this bolsters a dangerous narrative in a justice system that is built upon precedents”. In Canada, there are five million survivors of sexual assault. With this ruling, figures are set to boom, putting more woman, girls and LGBTQ2+ Canadians at risk as overwhelmingly the defendants are men and the victims are women. The gaps in this law relating to self-induced intoxication need to be amended immediately.

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Member of Parliament

Bonita Zarrillo