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13 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,O ctober 24,2019 theifp.ca NOMINATIONS WANTED! Do you know someone between the ages of 6-17 who is making a difference within their community? Nominate them for an Ontario Junior Citizen Award today! Nomination forms are available from this newspaper, and at www.ocna.org/juniorcitizen. Or call 416-923-7724 ext. 4439 is newspaper, COORDINATED BY: DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 30, 2019 Walczykiewicz also pointed out there is no standard age, background or even gender for a human trafficker. "I have personally charged girls with human trafficking where they traf- ficked another female," he said. "It could be anybody." In a presentation aimed at helping hotel employees identify human trafficking situations, Powers and Walczykiewicz listed some possible indicators. These included the same person reserving multiple rooms and the woman not knowing what city she is in because she has been moved around so much. Walczykiewicz said Hal- ton police have also no- ticed a recent trend with human traffickers making use of Airbnbs. He said people renting out their properties this way should have a neigh- bour or someone else keep an eye out for suspicious activity like people coming and going at all hours of the day and night. Those present also heard from human traf- ficking expert Kelly Tallon Franklin, who noted that 60 per cent of human traf- ficking that takes place in Canada is initiated along the 400-series highways. "Ontario is a hub," she said. "They're hoping you don't think you're a hub so you won't educate yourself about what to look for at McDonald's and Tim Hor- tons. Ever see a girl wash- ing in a bathroom sink ... has all her clothes in a No Frills bag ... she's afraid to talk to you ... she has no ID ... she has multiple phones ..." Maher pointed out that many of the recent human trafficking arrests took place because someone no- ticed something was wrong and called police. Anyone who suspects they see hu- man trafficking is asked to call 911 if it is an emergency situation or 905-825-4747 if they see suspicious activi- ty or Crime Stoppers at 1- 800-222-TIPS (8477) to re- port a crime anonymously. NEWS Continued from page 12 60 PER CENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN CANADA ALONG 400-SERIES HIGHWAYS Halton Hills' employ- ment land is open for busi- ness. The provincial govern- ment has withdrawn an ap- peal of an official plan amendment that tied up about 75 hectares of em- ployment land in the area of Hornby and Trafalgar roads, frozen in 2011 for the GTA West highway study. In December 2018, May- or Rick Bonnette, MPP Ted Arnott, and chief adminis- trative officer Brent Mar- shall met with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark. "Our ask to the province was to allow us to proceed with development of 75 hectares of employment land we had worked to identify with Halton Re- gion," Bonnette said. "These were replace- ment lands to make up for previously approved em- ployment lands we were told to freeze to make way for the GTA West Corri- dor." The town spent about $650,000 on background studies and agency approv- als to advance the proposed replacement lands; howev- er, following approval by both the town and Halton Region, the ministry, un- der the previous govern- ment, appealed the propos- al to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. "I am delighted with the recent correspondence from the Ministry of Mu- nicipal Affairs and Hous- ing withdrawing their ap- peal," Bonnette said. "I appreciate that our concerns were heard and that the ministry recog- nized the value in opening these employment lands to economic development." COUNCIL EMPLOYMENT LANDS ARE BACK IN BUSINESS AFTER MINISTRY WITHDRAWS APPEAL BRYAN MYERS bmyers@metroland.com WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU SUBMIT YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR TODAY!