Lethbridge airport staff join anti-trafficking initiative
By Lethbridge Herald on August 7, 2025.
Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Lethbridge Airport is taking measures to combat human trafficking by joining the notinmycity initiative.
This initiative founded by country singer Paul Brandt in 2017 provides training for employees and the symbol of a yellow rose will soon be found in both the airport and the website to help give victims hope and spread awareness of human trafficking.
Cameron Prince, manager of the Lethbridge Airport, says while Lethbridge’s airport is very small and the likelihood of traffickers using it is smaller than ones in larger cities, but there is potential and he believes being trained to recognize and handle human trafficking.
“Because we’re smaller there’s potential traffickers may choose a smaller airport to move through because it’s less likely to be identified.”
The training available through notinmycity.ca only takes about 30 minutes to complete and Prince says it was very helpful at pointing out red flags people may not otherwise think of, but also educates how to handle the situation for the safety of everyone involved.
“The key part is to not intervene in a way in a way that’s going to make it worse, so that’s actually the most critical piece is not causing more harm to the victim by intervening and potentially making the person who is responsible for the trafficking become aggressive.”
More information on notinmycity can be found on their website notinmycity.ca.
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i have long, long wondered how there is nothing much of any substance being done to combat human trafficking. while it is a world issue, one would think that at least most of the wealthy nations would have gotten down to fighting this war. heck, they have been so keen at the war on drugs, where the very many were actually willing participants of drug choice – exercising their right to choose. odd that they do not buckle down to fight a war in which unwilling people are abused, exploited and even killed.
in the case of human trafficking, the very many are enslaved and abused, against their will; and, very many are under the age of majority. and, yet, so very little is ever done to combat this scourge.
i guess it comes down to what makes money for the usual cast of the sleazy, corrupt power mongers. so much focus on weapons, which checks all the money making and power tripping boxes. lots of power and control and dirty money to be made enforcing unjust drug laws, despite how those laws have endangered and actually ruined the lives of many choosing to use substances that have been outlawed.
in the light of that, and now seeing that there is a likelihood there are a number of the most powerful, wealthy, and famous folk associated with underage forced labour and forced sexual predatory actions, it is doubtful we will ever see a true war on human trafficking. if we ever see the likes of things such as the epstein files, we can expect a lot of redactions. there is nothing transparent about what we accept for govt.
Biff, don’t fall down in shock, but I agree with much of what you have stated here. Human trafficking and sex trafficking are all part of organized crime as is the even more dispicable child sexual trafficking and exploitation. Some countries are favoured hot spots for child sexual trafficking in Asia, where they go to struggling farmers and buy their young kids for this trade. The sex predators flock to these countries!
Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking and is very prevalent in war-torn countries, and I witnessed it in the former Yugoslavia where orgnanized crime was involved, but sadly even a few bad apples from the ‘good guys’.
The drug crisis has dramatically increased some of these forms of human trafficking, as organized crime grows, other areas they earn revenue increases. Watching the street prostitutes, you see a connection between them, drug trafficking and other crimes.
What we hear in the news regarding child exploitation and sex trafficking, is only a drop of water in a lake, as stated by a retired RCMP member who works on monitoring the web for these crimes.
It reflects just how far society has slid into the abyss! We do need more enforcement and better legislation in both judicial and penal systems to deal with these scum.
i appreciate your entry and the added information regarding this despicable scourge that govts fail to do much of anything enough about.
however, while prostitution and drugs are never far apart, i will continue to say that each of those industries must be legalised and regulated by govt. one does not need to approve of such lifestyle choices, but it proves to be the more humane, safe, and even less costly approach for everyone.
Okay . . . 35 years ago I warned the government that legalizing pot, would cause organized crime to find other drugs to continue their revenue . . . they are not just going to take a loss and would replace it since they are also in business to make money. As it appeared to be close to being a reality, we did see an increase in other drugs and the legal pharmaceutical companies pushing opioids didn’t help, because they created a large group of addicts who wanted opioids if the doctor cut them off once he/she felt they didn’t need them anymore . . . along with some other factors.
I have thought about the legalization of prostitution in controlled environments, but decided that would also fail!
I have travelled in Nevada, where parts have legalized prostitution, Bunny Ranch franchises as one example, in those counties which allow it, but there were still the illegal street prostitutes in those counties . . . if didn’t work!
Canada, allows prostitution on the streets with restrictions on solicitation near playgrounds, schools, etc, anywhere where children would be using in numbers. There are some exceptions, but prostitutes are not criminalized for solicitation of services, the onus falls on the John’s (customer wanting services) and the pimps who pimp them out and transport them.
From the Gov of Canada website:
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/c36faq/
Recent international studies show that jurisdictions that have decriminalized or legalized prostitution have larger sex industries and higher rates of human trafficking for sexual exploitation than those that seek to reduce the incidence of prostitution. This means that legalizing and regulating prostitution would result in more people being subjected to prostitution. Research shows that the majority of those who sell their own sexual services are women and girls and marginalized groups, such as Aboriginal women and girls, are disproportionately represented. Research also shows that prostitution is an extremely dangerous activity that poses a risk of violence and psychological harm to those subjected to it, regardless of the venue or legal framework in which it takes place, both from purchasers of sexual services and from third parties.
Strippers and prostitutes in Alberta often are ran by organized crime. The bikers have run the strippers for decades, There are some exceptions.