Yes, it is possible and easy enough to assess the size of the industry and the number of prostitutes in Canada, including juvenile prostitutes. All you have to do is open the phone book and you'll see all the hostess agencies, massage parlours, etc., listed in there. We know how many people work for those agencies. It's just a matter of counting them across Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I can do that in Ottawa, and I can do it in Montreal, but I don't have the means to do that all alone, all across Canada. Statistics Canada could do this kind of survey. I know for a fact, because I teach statisticians from Statistics Canada, that every year, the idea of doing such an assessment is put on the table, but ends up being taken off because it's not a priority. There are other priorities, which is understandable. But yes, it is possible.
There is still some so-called “underground” prostitution, but that is basically street prostitution. There again, municipal police know all about this. It's a matter of centralizing the information.
What we are lacking here in Canada are shelters for prostitutes, whether they were born in Canada or have come here from abroad. We don't have any such shelters, nor do we have vocational and academic training programs; we don't have anything at all. A prostitute in Gatineau or Ottawa who wants to get out of prostitution has to go through a detox centre, because social services have nothing to offer her. But the fact is that people engaged in prostitution are not necessarily addicts. We have a problem in the sense that we have always considered prostitutes to be responsible for prostitution, as opposed to being the victims of a system of prostitution. So, we have never developed any services for these people. That is the first thing. The 1949 Convention says that one of the most important things is to develop services aimed at ensuring social and vocational reintegration, etc. In any case, if we don't provide these services, they will never be able to get out of prostitution; they will continue to work in the industry, because they have no other choice.