Northlander consultations excluded Indigenous, human trafficking groups
MTO’s recent Northlander Rideshare Pilot Engagment failed egregiously in not including Indigenous community groups in its March consultations, says Shelley Walker of Know Human Trafficking.
“The Northlander route goes directly through Indigenous lands,” Walker told Taxi News. “How can Ontario hold a consultation and not include Indigenous groups?”
The Ministry of Transportation is proposing a Northern Rideshare Pilot along the Northlander Passenger Train corridor between Gravenhurst and Cochrane. The pilot would establish minimum requirements for rideshare operators, drivers and vehicles operating in communities along the corridor.
Know Human Trafficking submitted its comments to the Northlander Pilot summary site on April 6, including its position which is that:
“The pilot, as currently structured, does not meet the minimum safety, verification, or enforcement standards required to protect northern Ontario residents, travellers, or vulnerable populations.”
KHT’s submission describes why the physical safety of travellers is magnified in the North, including:
- long distances between communities,
- limited cellular coverage,
- sparse policing resources,
- slow response times,
- high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG),
- known trafficking routes
Northern policing realities make the Pilot’s enforcement model unworkable:
- OPP detachments cover hundreds of kilometres
- Officers cannot verify a driver or vehicle in real time
- Delayed evidence access can compromise investigations
- Impersonation, spoofing, and account sharing are known risks
- There is no clear provincial enforcement body for the 740-km corridor
“We submit this response in support of the Canadian Taxi Association’s (CTA) concerns, while adding the critical safety, trafficking-risk, Indigenous-safety, and gender-based-violence dimensions that were absent from the pilot design and engagement process,” the submission notes.
“Critical safety gaps include:
- No mandatory in-vehicle cameras
- No real-time curbside verification of driver identity
- No guaranteed police access to trip or driver data during an active incident
- No independent complaint pathway outside the platform
- No minimum response times for safety-critical complaints
- No requirement for trauma-informed or anti-trafficking training
- No Ontario-based data storage for rapid evidence access.”
Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/ or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour.
Know Human Trafficking aims to raise public awareness about human trafficking and educate people about how they can help those at-risk.
