Canadian authorities hope that by giving the public a glimpse into the seedy world of human trafficking, they will boost their efforts to stamp out the unwanted practice.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced the launch of the "Blue Blindfold" campaign Tuesday, which seeks to make the public more aware about the exploitative world of human trafficking.

Speaking at a Winnipeg news conference on Tuesday morning, Toews said human traffickers put lives at risk through "one of the vilest crimes imaginable."

"Traffickers exploit people and vulnerable states through a variety of means including manipulation, fear and false promises for financial gain or a better life," Toews said.

He also noted that many victims of human trafficking are women or children, who are often forced into the sex industry where they "are led to a life of exploitation, deprived of their basic human rights."

The Blue Blindfold campaign is being launched in partnership with the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association and the RCMP Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre.

Toews said the campaign aims to have the public "gain a better understanding of how to identify human trafficking cases, while also offering everyone a way to help law enforcement officers identify offenders and help victims."

The print, radio and TV campaign will make use of "disturbing and uncomfortable" images, but Toews said they are necessary to get across the distasteful nature of the crime.

Additionally, the RCMP is also launching a second awareness campaign called "I'm Not for Sale," a toolkit that provides information about human trafficking for members of the public, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations.

However, NDP MP Olivia Chow said that a public awareness campaign doesn't go far enough to address the problem.

Instead, Chow said that Ottawa should be working to provide "comprehensive" legal services to the victims of human trafficking, so pimps and criminals can be convicted and stopped.

Chow told CTV's Power Play on Tuesday that many foreign women trapped in the sex trade are afraid to come forward, since they believe that officials will deport or arrest them.

If the victims are afraid to talk, this means that traffickers aren't brought to justice, Chow said.

"There's very, very little chance of them being convicted, and they know that."

When smuggling becomes trafficking

The launch of the Blue Blindfold campaign comes at a time when concerns are also being raised about the related practice of human smuggling.

Speaking on Power Play, Toews made the distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking; the latter which includes "the continued exploitation of these individuals when they are here in Canada."

Human smuggling, such as what occurred on the recent Sun Sea boat containing nearly 500 Tamils, is "essentially a commercial relationship where an individual is brought into Canada for a … monetary sum," said Toews.

He added that he "wasn't aware" of human trafficking aboard the Sun Sea.

Still, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Raf Souccar said human smuggling can often become human trafficking when migrants are unable to make the payments they promised.

"If they are unable to make payment, sometimes the smuggling turns to trafficking," he told reporters in Winnipeg.

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said Ottawa is still mapping out its precise strategy to the human-smuggling problem. But it involves both legislative and procedural components.

While Australia chooses to process migrants offshore so they cannot immediately claim refugee rights, Toews said such a system also has flaws.

"It's not been really any more successful than what's happened in Canada," he said, adding that Canadian officials cannot "simply turn the boats around or refuse entry into national waters."

Doing so, Toews said, has led to migrants being dumped into the water.

Toews is expected to bring a series of potential legislative options before the Conservative cabinet as soon as next week. New legislation on the matter is still weeks away.

With files from The Canadian Press