A Saskatchewan MLA took the stand this week in a human trafficking trial in Rosetown.
Cypress Hills MLA Doug Steele testified Tuesday that he and his staff became involved in 2022 after a young woman, now the complainant in a high-profile trafficking case, reached out to his office saying she felt unsafe and exploited at her job in a rural diner. The woman, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, later became central to criminal charges laid against Mohammad Masum and Sohel Haider. The two men were arrested in June 2023 and face human trafficking charges. Masum is also charged with sexual assault.
Steele’s role was thrust into public view during the trial, and he described a months-long effort to help the woman navigate what she described as long hours, poor treatment, and isolation at her workplace. His testimony outlined an unusual chain of informal assistance that included private messages, late-night phone calls, and even a coordinated extraction from a small Saskatchewan town — all unfolding before police were officially involved.
“This wasn’t normal,” Steele said from the witness stand. “It was clear she was uncomfortable. She didn’t know who else to trust.”
Steele said the woman first contacted his Gull Lake constituency office while working in the town, and later relocated to Tisdale. Recognizing a language barrier, Steele enlisted help from fellow Saskatchewan Party MLA Hugh Nerlien, who represented Kelvington-Wadena at the time. Together, they sought out community support, including Jody Armstrong from Northeast Newcomer Services as well as a Bengali-speaking constituency assistant from another MLA’s office.
Steele testified that this assistant, who worked for then-MLA Mark Docherty, was “brought into the fold” to help communicate with the woman in her first language, as her English was limited. Docherty, a veteran Saskatchewan Party MLA and former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2018 to 2020, had stepped down from his Regina Coronation Park seat in 2023 after more than a decade in provincial politics.
The CA’s involvement was instrumental, Steele said, in helping them understand the woman’s concerns, which she struggled to express clearly in English. Still, no official file was ever opened by Steele’s office because the woman never signed a consent form, and the team was unsure of the legal implications of their growing involvement.
The defence, pressing Steele during cross-examination, pointed out inconsistencies in his recollection, including how many times he had spoken with the woman and whether he had saved or deleted communications. He confirmed he had contacted her via Facebook, WhatsApp, and text message but admitted he had deleted those messages, something he said he routinely does. He acknowledged calling her a “pretty lady” in a message, which he said was meant as a compliment.
At the time, Steele said, he didn’t know whether the woman was being trafficked or simply mistreated in the workplace. But after she moved again, this time to Elrose, Steele said her distress deepened, prompting him and his assistant, Sean Checkley, to help plan her quiet removal from the job site in March 2023.
“She had never even met Sean,” Steele told the court. They had to tell her what he looked like, what he’d be driving.
That early-morning pickup, coordinated over the phone with little documentation, was later scrutinized. Steele admitted there was “nothing stopping” him from contacting the RCMP earlier but said he felt the situation was vague and uncertain. Eventually, both he and Nerlien gave statements to plainclothes officers in Regina.
While the alleged victim’s account of being moved between jobs in Gull Lake, Tisdale, and Elrose raised red flags, Steele said he couldn’t confirm how she got from place to place or who arranged the moves. He said the idea that she might be trafficked came only later, as the pieces started falling into place.
“This was outside the kind of case we usually deal with,” Steele said. “But once she called us, I felt a responsibility. She was alone out there.”
The trial continues this week in Rosetown on Thursday with continued cross-examination by defence of Doug Steele, with testimony expected from immigration staff Jody Armstrong.