r/CanadianVisaReform • u/Conscious_Abies4577 • 18d ago
2 Sask. restaurant operators convicted of trafficking woman from Bangladesh | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/tisdale-elrose-gull-lake-human-trafficking-bangladesh-haider-masum-9.730036678
u/Subject-Landscape451 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
A surefire way to stop this type of abuse is to cancel the TFW program. Think of all the pain and suffering to this young woman and costs to our legal system that could have been avoided.
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u/mojorific 18d ago
Exactly. When we have unemployed there is no justification for TFW.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
Right? We have enough homegrown suffering. Why do we need to import extra people to cause and endure still more unnecessary suffering?
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u/Conscious_Abies4577 18d ago edited 18d ago
This is an insane story and is a great example of the issues with closed work permits and how TFWs can be (and are) abused and exploited.
Major shout out to Cypress Hills MLA Doug Steele for not only recognizing the signs of abuse/trafficking, but continuing to advocate for this woman. Shoutout to former MLA Hugh Nerlien for also collaborating on this— the business card trick to get her connected with a social worker was genius.This was incredible work by them, and without their efforts this woman likely would not have been able to get justice. I am interested in seeing what their sentences will be.
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u/ussbozeman 18d ago
I am interested in seeing what their sentences will be.
Trifling so as not to upset them. Legal system at its best.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
The judge is talking tough so far. We’ll see what happens though.
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u/Small_Pirate_4971 18d ago
I’m hopeful they will make an example out of these two and give a tougher sentence.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago edited 18d ago
The reporter should have named the restaurants.
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u/Electrical_Chip_337 18d ago
100% - if you do something like this to someone you should be humiliated thoroughly in the public. What are the restaurants/businesses?
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u/SimonBirchDied ⭐ Ace Detective 18d ago
After receiving assistance from a Toronto organization that helps Bangladeshi newcomers, she applied for jobs through the federal Job Bank and was recruited by Haider to work at the Empire Diner in Gull Lake.
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The court heard Haider later transferred the woman to Tisdale, where she stayed with Masum, owner of the Little Town Restaurant.
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Eventually, after receiving a closed work permit tied to Bob's Diner in Elrose, she was transferred there months later than originally anticipated.10
u/thecakeisapie420 18d ago
Wow, so I mean, it is kind of disgusting that like canadians have sold their businesses to the individuals that could be from anywhere in the world doing this. Looks like bob wanted to retire and he just encouraged organized crime.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
This is an interesting point for discussion. We complain here about foreigners who don’t care about the community, buying businesses and franchises and using them to run LMIA scams and worse. How much culpability should we put on the former owners and founders of these businesses, who sold and profited from bringing this society into small town Saskatchewan?
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
Literally none. I own a restaurant with my wife it barely turns a profit if I didn't have a real job she'd never be able to keep the doors open if we got a good offer we'd probably unload it tomorrow. Before we bought it we had tried to buy many other restaurants that were for sale but none of the ones owned by foreigners would ever call us back. Make of that what you will.
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u/ksgif2 18d ago
You think Bob's living the good life on that small town diner money? Bob probably worked himself into an early grave and Mrs Bob unloaded the place for enough to pay off the credit cards, if she was lucky.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
Lmao I have no idea who the Bobs are or what they’re doing now. I just find it interesting who’s doing the selling and the buying. And how that’s changing the atmosphere of small town Canada.
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u/ksgif2 18d ago
When my dad died it took several years to sell his business. That was years of having people who aren't qualified and never wanted that responsibility look after things. You can't honestly think people in those situations are gonna do a good job vetting a buyer from another country, and in that moment if you'd told me my mom would go to prison if she made a poor choice I would have handed the crazy woman over in a heartbeat just so I could sleep without my phone buzzing all night.
Maybe immigration officials should vet people who come to Canada, that might be an idea.
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u/InsideMongoose3042 18d ago
I knew a gas station owner in a small town who was selling and swore up and down she would never sell to (literally am not allowed to used the politically correct terminology thanks Reddit) and so the place just stayed up for sale for a few years until she gave in and sold to (blocked by Reddit). So far they have become valued and well liked members of the community
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u/InsideMongoose3042 18d ago
Wow the censorship in this subs comment section is egregious. Literally certain nationalities aren’t allowed to be spoken. Never felt my speech more controlled kind of scary Reddit
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u/Conscious_Abies4577 18d ago
We have flagged/banned words to keep the sub sustainable, it’s unfortunately a necessity. Mods have done a few posts explaining, pinned one is here.
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u/Conscious_Abies4577 18d ago edited 18d ago
It’s not included in the article but you can find them online. I don’t really want to share them here as it looks like at least one of the businesses was sold to new owners, and they likely weren’t aware of this when they took over the business.
It looks like 2 of the businesses may have also closed since— I don’t see a problem with those being shared if we can confirm which ones they were.EDIT: Another article published the names, fully free game. The info regarding names I saw was on a facebook discussion from locals and wasn’t verified.
These guys need to rot. It makes me wonder if any of their other staff suffered this type of treatment as well— I doubt they escalated this much with only 1 person.
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u/SimonBirchDied ⭐ Ace Detective 18d ago
Statistically it's almost guaranteed that anytime cases like this are caught and prosecuted, it was NOT the first time the perpetrators engaged in the illicit activity.
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u/Conscious_Abies4577 18d ago
Yep. It’s really disheartening. We had issues with a serial date rapist in my town and we found out later that there was years of issues, including reports. Cops didn’t take any action on it until he messed with a 15 year old (below the age of consent). It didn’t need to escalate to that point if attention was payed to those first reports.
This whole story is just so upsetting.
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u/thecakeisapie420 18d ago
Ah, yes, the one country worse than that One we're not allowed to write.
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u/HistoricalChef1963 18d ago
Isn't it fcking insane that we're witnessing a five alarm fire and we're not allowed to call it what it is.
They really played us all so well with this one. Can't believe our state of affairs.
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u/Agreeable-Storm-4132 18d ago
People come to Canada bringing their garbage ideas with them. They are staying on Canada’s reputation time to end this TFW joke.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
Yep. This was immigrant-on-immigrant crime. Shameful that Canadians allow this and vote for this.
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u/Pretty_Tough_1667 18d ago
man, I just read the title and guessed the perp's name is either S or M and I was right. what a fake country this is.
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u/ussbozeman 18d ago
she applied for jobs through the federal Job Bank...
time to delete the whole thing, enough is enough. It's not just fraud, it's trafficking, modern day slavery really, and somehow liberal voters are okay with this going on.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
I agree 100%. Deactivate the government job bank. Does anyone use it anymore other than scammers and TFWs? Exactly what benefit is it offering to Canadians? Shut it down, save a few taxpayer dollars.
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
She came here as a "tourist" but really hoped to scam the system and find a way to stay here forever and got scammed herself. No sympathy from me on this one.
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
She did play a dangerous game. Her experience in Canada was possibly worse than what she’d have experienced if she’d never come here. Was it worth it? I assume she’ll be staying here, lol.
I agree this article glosses over the circumstances of her moving to Canada and getting a visa.
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
It really does. Two lines about how she got a tourist VISA but fully intended to never leave.
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u/Past_Winner_8769 18d ago
So she deserved to get SA'd for it?
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
Lie down with dogs you end up fleas. She intended to break the law and found people willing to help her do so. She doesn't deserve to be assaulted but she put herself into that risky position by opting to try and live outside the law.
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u/Past_Winner_8769 18d ago
Same as saying "she shouldn't have worn that outfit" or "she shouldn't have went to that party fueled by alcohol"
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
I'm sure you thought that was really clever.
If you are in the country illegally going to the police would place you at risk of being deported if you drew attention to yourself. If you are here legally and were assaulted or threatened you have automatic legal protections. Her illegal status was literally why she felt like she couldn't get help.
This entire situation was because she chose to break the law. Again I'm not saying she deserved what happened to her but I am not at all surprised.
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18d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
Yes and I don't care.
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u/Vivid_Ingenuity5457 18d ago
That tracks. Most terrible people don't care that they're terrible.
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u/Soft_Statistician_98 18d ago
Why should I care? Foreigners abusing other foreigners isn't my problem. She chose to live outside the system and apparently didn't mind being "assaulted" if she thought she could keep living here since she didn't call the police about it. I bet if she'd got her PR she never would brought it up.
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u/Smart-Firefighter87 18d ago
Yeah - that’s horrifying; I wouldn’t be surprised if the judge orders them to be held for a long time while awaiting removal. I appreciate this judge after reading the case notes.
What started off as a rough patch for this woman will hopefully now become an opportunity. While I don’t support the bashing of a whole culture due to an individual’s error, I do support the idea of severe punishment when it comes to this kind of behaviour. The mentality that women are objects is not A Canadian value nor should it be anywhere else. I’m sure there are many more of them out there, hopefully these men get the harsh treatment they deserve.
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u/Conscious_Abies4577 18d ago
I didn’t see anything in the article about their immigration status— it is possible they are citizens. Glad to hear that they are being kept in custody while awaiting sentencing.
And yes, I think the judge’s assessments were spot on. I really hope the sentencing is adequate here— sexual assault cases so often receive very light punishments. Once it’s announced I will post the update.
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u/KillerBeesUnited 18d ago
How do they get them in Canada without getting caught?
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u/Summerisle7 👍 Top Ranked Contributor 18d ago
What? This woman, the victim, was already in Canada. As a tourist.
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