By Lloyd Mackey

IT IS not often that a television interview with a Member of Parliament takes place in an otherwise empty House of Commons chamber.

On Tuesday morning, June 23, such a conversation did take place. Joy Smith, the Manitoba MP whose private members' bill calling for mandatory minimum penalties for human trafficking has passed preliminary readings with support from three parties, was the interviewee.

The interviewer was Isabelle Castella. I met her last week at Write! Canada -- the Christian writers' conference held each year in Guelph and sponsored by The Word Guild. Some 300 active and aspiring writers were there to mark the 25th anniversary of the conference.

At the conference, Castella told me about the plans to meet with Smith in Ottawa. We agreed that once the interview was done, I would meet with Castella and her husband, Philip Adkins, who are partners in Pixellight Productions.

The rationale and process for the Joy Smith interview is worth recounting, and I will do so, now.

Adkins has a construction business in Elora, north of Guelph and Kitchener, Ontario. He is also an amateur videocam enthusiast. Castella is a former teacher who, as a Christian, is interested in the application of the gospel in social and political issues.

They both have been interested, for some years, as to how they could use their interests in significance service.

Two years ago, they watched the movie, Amazing Grace, the story of British parliamentarian William Wilberforce's anti-slavery activities in the late 1700s and early 1800s. They were touched. And they were aware, as well, that a different kind of slave trade, involving children being trapped into sexual captivity, exists worldwide today.

International Justice Mission Canada, led by Jamie McIntosh of London, Ontario has influenced the couple's thinking as well.

What emerged, for them, is the Emancipation Project, through which, with a little logistical help from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), they hope to develop an hour-long television documentary on the subject.

To that end, they came to Ottawa to interview Smith, the sponsor of Bill C-268, shorthandedly described as the human trafficking act.

For Castella, the chamber site of the interview helped make the point that this issue needs to be a matter of national concern.

So where do Castella and Adkins go from here?

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This fall, through ADRA, they will be in Thailand, where many Christian agencies are working to help head off sexual exploitation of children. They are aware that getting such activity documented is difficult, but they know, as well, that working closely with groups that have a track record of helping, is essential.

"I have a daughter, myself, who is the same age as many of the girls at the time they are victimized," Castella says calmly.

Once they have the footage they need, they will provide a short for ADRA. Beyond that, they hope to work out the longer documentary for television viewing.

And, in the longer term, still, Adkins sees the need for similar work, not only in the sex trade area, but in the issue of child exploitation in textile and building materials industries.

Adkins and Castella have walked this road for a few years, at least. She grew up in a Christian setting and her faith has been part of her life from childhood.

Adkins came to faith over a decade ago, and found his spiritual home in the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Harriston, Ontario. That is where he met Castella.

Before he became a Christian, he had visited Thailand, where he observed open child exploitation. Those images did not leave his mind.

The couple points to Wilberforce contemporary Edmund Burke's famous saying, cited often by Christian social justice leaders: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing." (Note: the venerable quote was edited slightly to meet present day gender reference standards.)

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Lloyd Mackey is a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and author of Stephen Harper: The Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press, 2006), More Faithful Than We Think: Stories and Insights on Canadian Leaders Doing Politics Christianly (BayRidge Books, 2005) and Like Father, Like Son: Ernest Manning and Preston Manning (ECW Press, 1997). Lloyd can be reached at lmackey@canadianchristianity.com.

Related stories:

Forced prostitution and sports a weak link
Little evidence supports rumours of human trafficking at Athens Olympics and the 2006 World Cup
Peter McKnight, Vancouver Sun, June 22

Members of Parliament matter
In assessing Canada's record in combating human trafficking, the State Department makes the critical point that while Canada fully meets international standards in legislation, when it comes to implementation of a vigorous effort against trafficking, our country demonstrates at best "modest progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders."
Thomas S. Axworthy, National Post, June 25

June 25/2009