Appalling.

I'm usually very proud to say that I'm a Canadian. We've got a lot of great things going for us (besides the weather) such as universal healthcare, personal freedoms, etc. But sometimes, this makes us complacent and makes it easier for us to ignore dodgy things going on in this country.

Among countries that accept people caught up in human trafficking, Canada is one of the worst. This article calls us "an international embarrassment." Yikes. You don't hear about it, or see it, as long as you stay away from the shadier parts of cities and towns. Even in Edmonton, people probably assume that "well, that happens in a big city like Toronto or Vancouver, not here."

What they don't realize is that in a boom town with a transient worker population, this place is the perfect location for human traffic.

Most women taken internationally are used in the sex trade. And Edmonton's finest just busted their first (and certainly not last) rub and tug using imported Chinese ladies as sex slaves.

There's always a dark undercurrent running far closer to the surface "niceness" of a place than anyone wants to admit, to themselves or others. Until it slaps you in the face like this, and you're forced to look at it. Reprehensible. We can't just sit back and let this happen. If we allow this in our own home, how can we possibly say, "for shame!" to others? There are no politicians yelling about this, even though it's a big issue. Something ought to be done. Read the Future Group's estimation here.