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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 15 ,2 01 8 | 6 The Georgetown Independent & Free Press, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corpora- tion. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. The Independent & Free Press is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 ABOUT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 905-234-1016 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncanadiancham- pion.com or call 905-234-1019. CONTACT US Publisher Neil Oliver General Manager Steve Foreman Retail Advertising Manager Cindi Campbell Regional Managing Editor Chris Vernon Regional Managing Digital Editor Robyn Wilkinson Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Classified/Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Production Shelli Harrison WHO WE ARE OPINION They call it human trafficking, but let's call it what it is: modern-day slavery. And it's taking place in Niagara right now. Girls and young women, snared by predatory pimps, are being forced into sexual slavery for the profit of those controlling them. Now 15 local agencies in Niagara, that in one way or another play a role in either combating this scourge or dealing with the fallout from it, have joined forces in a new protocol to deal with human trafficking emergency response in the region. With a more co-ordinated approach, the YWCA and numerous other partners such as the Niagara Sexual Assault Centre and Victim Services Niaga- ra hope they'll better able to help victims who have escaped trafficking or are hoping to navigate what can be a complex web of services, and to broaden efforts to identify possible victims of trafficking. Working together, the agencies including the OPP and Niagara Regional Police and some fire departments also hope to promote awareness of this terrible crime. The reality is that most Niaga- ra residents hear "human trafficking" and it prob- ably conjures up images of people in troubled na- tions far away, not in our backyard. But officials say girls as young as 13 are being used as slaves, often moved from city to city and sold by their pimps to men for sex. The pimps are frighteningly good at romancing their vulnerable recruits at first, then turning on them with techniques such as physical violence and threatening to put intimate photos of them on the internet or threatening their families. There are even online guides that teach pimps how to become traffickers. Digital technology has allowed trafficking to flourish, with the selling of girls online. Toronto police said in February that they're now seeing a growing trend involving people using Airbnb rentals to conduct their illicit transactions. Just how prevalent trafficking is is difficult to pinpoint exactly because most victims are unable or unwilling to report it to police due to their iso- lation, a deluded belief their keeper cares for them, or out of fear of violence from their traffick- er. But it is happening in motel and hotel rooms in Niagara. The new protocol is one step in the right direc- tion toward combating a crime that can leave young victims shattered with what can be lifelong psychological damage. Modern-day slavery exists all around us Pollsters reveal their anti-gun bias On March 9, the day af- ter Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale's National Guns and Gangs Summit, anti-gun lobby group Pol- ySeSouvient released "proof" 63 per cent of Cana- dian gun owners support banning semi-automatic firearms. In reality, anti-gun poll- ing firm Environics deliv- ered the lie their client paid for: "a majority of fire- arm owners" support ban- ning guns. The Environics survey shows only 159 of 1,510 total poll respondents own fire- arms. Of those 159 self-identi- fied gun owners, 131 sup- ported a gun ban (33 "some- what agree", 98 "strongly agree"). On March 9 and 10, the CSSA polled our member- ship, subscribers to our weekly Canadian Sports Shooting Association (CSSA) E-News and fire- arms owners on Facebook. We asked a simple, Yes or No question. Do you support a ban on semi-automatic firearms? Our results shine the light of truth on the lie per- petrated by Environics and proved, once again, the so- called polling firm's bias against lawful firearms owners. * 98 per cent of respon- dents oppose banning semi-automatic firearms. * 5.6 per cent of respon- dents said they were not firearm owners, yet the majority of these still op- pose the ban. The ocean of discrepan- cy between the CSSA poll and the nonsense put forth by Environics is easy to ex- plain. Environics took a min- iscule number, just 131 of 1,510 total respondents, and claimed those 131 people represent the views of 2.1 million licensed Canadian gun owners. Misleading doesn't begin to describe the factual fallacy they at- tempted to foist upon Ca- nadians. The CSSA, on the other hand, polled real gun own- ers to find out the real an- swer to a simple, yes or no question. Do you support a ban on semi-automatic firearms? It's no surprise real fire- arms owners almost unan- imously (98 per cent) op- pose banning semi-auto- matic firearms. Real firearms owners know banning firearms from lawful, trustworthy Canadians will not influ- ence monstrous acts in other countries or stop vio- lent criminal gangs from using illegal guns. Our results will shock only those people gullible enough to believe the Envi- ronics poll is anything oth- er than a total fantasy. Or do you believe the poll with 5,759 responses, simply worded, and con- ducted by Canada's largest firearm owners associa- tion? Tony Bernardo, Executive Director Canadian Shooting Sports Association l GET CONNECTED Have a comment on this or any other community issues? Email us at newsroom@theifp.ca • EDITORIAL • • LETTERS & COMMENTARY •