Benjamin Perrin

An astonishing and powerful look at the ongoing opioid health crisis--the only book of its kind in Canada. North America is in the middle of a health crisis. The word "Fentanyl" only recently entered common usage, and yet it has become a looming presence in news reports and conversations across Canada. It is an opioid more powerful and pervasive--and deadly--than any previous street drug. Often those suffering are marginalized people. Consider that in 2003, the SARS epidemic killed 44 people in Canada and launched a massive mobilization of public funds and resources to contain the outbreak. Over 100 times that number have been killed between 2016 and 2017 during the opioid crisis in Canada. Yet, the response has been far from proportionate. In fact, our policies are making things worse. The victims are many, and as we learn here, not only who we might expect. They are our neighbours: professionals, students, parents, and even health care workers. Despite the thousands of deaths, these victims remain largely invisible. But not anymore. Benjamin Perrin, a law and policy expert in Vancouver, BC--ground zero for the crisis--shines a light in this darkest of corners. What he finds challenges many assumptions about the people who use opioids, and the factors fuelling the crisis. Why do people use Fentanyl, where does it come from, and why can't we stop it? These questions, and many others being asked by all Canadians, are answered here in this urgent and humane look at the worst health crisis in recent history.

Heartbreak, Hope, and the Opioid Crisis

Overdose

Just outside Toronto, a 14-year-old Canadian girl was auctioned on the internet for men to purchase by the hour. A young woman was taken by slave traders from an African war zone to Edmonton to earn greater profits by exploiting her in prostitution. A gang called Wolfpack recruited teenagers in Quebec and sold them for sex to high-profile men in the community. The global problem of human trafficking is only beginning to be recognized in Canada, even though it has been hidden in plain sight. In "Invisible Chains, " Benjamin Perrin, an award-winning law professor and policy expert, exposes cases of human trafficking, recording in-depth interviews with people on the front lines--police officers, social workers, and the victims themselves--and bringing to light government records released under access-to-information laws.

Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking

Invisible Chains

Based on first-hand interviews with survivors, people who have committed offences, and others on the frontlines, Indictment puts the Canadian criminal justice system on trial and proposes a bold new vision of transformative justice. #MeToo. Black Lives Matter. Decriminalize Drugs. No More Stolen Sisters. Stop Stranger Attacks. Do we need more cops or to defund the police? Harm reduction or treatment? Tougher sentences or prison abolition? The debate about Canada's criminal justice system has rarely been so polarized - or so in need of fresh ideas. Indictment brings the heartrending and captivating stories of survivors and people who have committed offences to the forefront to help us understand why the criminal justice system is facing such an existential crisis. Benjamin Perrin draws on his expertise as a lawyer, former top criminal justice advisor to the prime minister, and law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada to investigate the criminal justice system itself. Indictment critiques the system from a trauma-informed perspective, examining its treatment of victims of crime, Indigenous people and Black Canadians, people with substance use and mental health disorders, and people experiencing homelessness, poverty, and unemployment. Perrin also shares insights from others on the frontlines, including prosecutors and defence lawyers, police chiefs, Indigenous leaders, victim support workers, corrections officers, public health experts, gang outreach workers, prisoner and victims' rights advocates, criminologists, psychologists, and leading trauma experts. Bringing forward the voices of marginalized people, along with their stories of survival and resilience, Indictment shows that a better way is possible.

The Criminal Justice System on Trial

Indictment

Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Policy Maker of the Year

The Supreme Court of Canada

Canada's Response to a Global Criminal Enterprise

Migrant Smuggling

Under-aged girls as young as 12 years old are being subjected to sexual exploitation by traffickers according to a Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada (CISC); this is a pressing national problem, as organized crime networks are actively trafficking Canadian-born women and under-age girls within and between provinces and to the United States, destined for the sex trade. Law enforcement agencies are beginning to investigate and lay human trafficking charges under Canada's Criminal Code s. 279.01 which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 14 years, and up to life imprisonment if the accused kidnaps the victim, subjects them to aggravated assault or aggravated sexual assault, or causes the death of the victim during the commission of the offense. However, there are currently no minimum sentences provided, even when the victim is a child. This is a serious gap in the current law, which Bill C-268, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (minimum sentence for offenses involving trafficking of persons under the age of eighteen years), aims to address by introducing a five-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for trafficking in persons under 18 years of age. The inappropriately short sentences handed down in two Canadian cases (Imani Nakpangi and Michael Lennox Mark) are discussed, lending strong support to the need for parliamentary intervention in the form of Bill C-268.

Minimum Sentences for Child Trafficking Needed

Bill C-268

The face of modern warfare is changing as more and more humanitarian organizations, private military companies, and non-state armed groups enter complex security environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti. Although this shift has been overshadowed by legal issues connected to the War on Terror and intervention in countries such as Rwanda and Sudan, it has caused some to question the relevance of the laws of war. Modern Warfare explores the law’s failure -- and potential -- to ensure compliance in the context of a changing military landscape; by doing so, it opens a path to preventing further unnecessary suffering and violence.

Armed Groups, Private Militaries, Humanitarian Organizations, and the Law

Modern Warfare

The future of Canada's laws related to prostitution has become an urgent public policy issue in the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford. Three prostitution-related offences in the Criminal Code were found to infringe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and are to be struck down, effective within one year. The Court's decision of December 20, 2013 has spurred a national debate on the issue as Parliament has this limited timeline to adopt any new legislative approach, or else Canada will face the de facto legalization of adult prostitution.

Addressing Prostitution After the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in Canada V. Bedford

Oldest Profession Or Oldest Oppression?

David Leo Milward

Michelle Lawrence (Law professor)

Myrna McCallum

Canadian Law, Indigenous Laws & Critical Perspectives

Criminal Law

Migrant smuggling is a dangerous, sometimes deadly, criminal activity which cannot be rationalized, justified, or excused. From both a supply and demand side, failing to respond effectively to migrant smuggling and deter it will risk emboldening those who engage in this illicit enterprise, which generates proceeds for organized crime and criminal networks, funds terrorism and facilitates clandestine terrorist travel; endangers the lives and safety of smuggled migrants, undermines border security, with consequences for the Canada/U.S. border, and undermines the integrity and fairness of Canada's immigration system.

Canada's Response to a Global Criminal Enterprise : with an Assessment of the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act (Bill C-4)

Analysis and Recommendations Related to Bill C-53 (Life Means Life Act)

Punishing the Most Heinous Crimes

International trafficking in persons is often facilitated by the movement of victims through one or more transit countries in order to reach a destination country where the victim will ultimately be subjected to sexual exploitation or forced labour. Despite this recognized pattern, there has been a relative lack of attention paid to the response of transit countries in addressing their role in this transnational criminal activity and systematic human rights abuse.

A Canada-U.S. Case Study in Global Perspective

Trafficking in Persons & Transit Countries

How victims of crime are treated by the justice system has emerged as a major societal issue, spurring legislative reforms, public inquiries, complaints against judges and public debate. Victim Law: The Law of Victims of Crime in Canada is an invaluable peer-reviewed resource for judges, Crown prosecutors, defence counsel, police, victim services professionals, policy-makers and scholars. In this timely book, one of the architects of the new federal Victims Bill of Rights Act examines the growing body of legislation and case law related to victims of crime throughout the criminal justice, corrections and youth criminal justice systems and under provincial and territorial laws. In addition to providing a comprehensive legal account of victim law, legislative and policy recommendations are made to enhance the responsiveness of the justice system to victims.

The Law of Victims of Crime in Canada

Victim Law

Report Card on the Criminal Justice System #2

"This thesis critically examines the origins and development of international criminal lave to identify the defining features of this emerging legal tradition. It critically evaluates the experimental approach taken in Article 21 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which attempts to codify an untested normative super-structure to guide this legal tradition." --

Gaps in Applicable Law and Transnational Common Laws

An Emerging International Criminal Law Tradition

Philip Reichel

John Winterdyk

Human trafficking is a crime that undermines fundamental human rights and a broader sense of global order. It is an atrocity that transcends borders with some regions known as exporters of trafficking victims and others recognized as destination countries. Edited by three global experts and composed of the work of an esteemed panel of contributors,

Exploring the International Nature, Concerns, and Complexities

Human Trafficking

The face of modern warfare is changing as more and more humanitarian organizations, private military companies, and non-state armed groups enter complex security environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Haiti. Although this shift has been overshadowed by legal issues connected to the War on Terror and intervention in countries such as Rwanda and Sudan, it has caused some to question the relevance of the laws of war. Modern Warfare explores the law's failure � and potential � to ensure compliance in the context of a changing military landscape; by doing so, it opens a path to preventing further unnecessary suffering and violence.

Based on first-hand interviews with survivors, people who have committed offences, and others on the frontlines, Indictment puts the Canadian criminal justice system on trial and proposes a bold new vision of transformative justice. #MeToo. Black Lives Matter. Decriminalize Drugs. No More Stolen Sisters. Stop Stranger Attacks. Do we need more cops or to defund the police? Harm reduction or treatment? Tougher sentences or prison abolition? The debate about Canada’s criminal justice system has rarely been so polarized – or so in need of fresh ideas. Indictment brings the heartrending and captivating stories of survivors and people who have committed offences to the forefront to help us understand why the criminal justice system is facing such an existential crisis. Benjamin Perrin draws on his expertise as a lawyer, former top criminal justice advisor to the prime minister, and law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada to investigate the criminal justice system itself. Indictment critiques the system from a trauma-informed perspective, examining its treatment of victims of crime, Indigenous people and Black Canadians, people with substance use and mental health disorders, and people experiencing homelessness, poverty, and unemployment. Perrin also shares insights from others on the frontlines, including prosecutors and defence lawyers, police chiefs, Indigenous leaders, victim support workers, corrections officers, public health experts, gang outreach workers, prisoner and victims’ rights advocates, criminologists, psychologists, and leading trauma experts. Bringing forward the voices of marginalized people, along with their stories of survival and resilience, Indictment shows that a better way is possible.

Benjamin Perrin

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