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Indigenous lawyer appointed to prosecute human trafficking cases in Nova Scotia

Click to play video: 'Nova Scotia government spending $1.4M to combat human trafficking'
Nova Scotia government spending $1.4M to combat human trafficking
Nova Scotia has the highest rate of human trafficking in the country. Now the government is spending money on a five-year plan to change that through education and prevention. Alicia Draus has more. – Feb 20, 2020

Nova Scotia has hired its first Crown attorney dedicated to the prosecution of human trafficking offences.

Crown attorney Josie McKinney is a member of the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet First Nations and a graduate of the Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq Initiative at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

McKinney has prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases including homicides, sexual assaults and cases of child luring – and she is a member of the Public Prosecution Service’s sexual assault working group and the equity and diversity committee.

An undated photo of Josie McKinney, who Nova Scotia has hired as its first Crown attorneydedicated to the prosecution of human trafficking offences. Courtesy of NSBS.org

The director of Public Prosecutions, Martin Herschorn, says McKinney has extensive experience dealing with vulnerable witnesses.

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After graduating from Dalhousie Law School in 2006, McKinney articled with the Nova Scotia Department of Justice.

Click to play video: 'NDP, Conservative, and Green MPs call on government to support human trafficking victims'
NDP, Conservative, and Green MPs call on government to support human trafficking victims

In 2011, McKinney was appointed a Crown attorney in Yarmouth and later moved to the Halifax office in 2018.

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