Status of Women committee  I'm in favour of a measure for income, but believe that housing is equally important. It's an essential requirement for victims of exploitation. Unfortunately, there isn't enough housing.

Status of Women committee  I'll tell you what the biggest problem is, based on my analysis. I don't know whether you are aware of operation Scorpion, a major investigation carried out by the Quebec police in 2002. During this police operation, certain people testified. I'm thinking in particular of one victim who said that she had over 100 clients, including several politicians.

Status of Women committee  That's a bit of a thorny issue. I don't think that a 15‑year-old should even be on social networks. My son is not on any social networks.

Status of Women committee  At the moment, there isn't much to be done in terms of the Criminal Code. The emphasis should really be on introducing the resources needed to enforce the Criminal Code, which is not currently being done. If the police were to focus their efforts on sexual services customers, a lot of men would have been taken in for questioning by now.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  Thank you very much for that question. There are all kinds of things that could be done, but that are unfortunately not being done. I'll take Quebec as an example, because I'm very familiar with what is done there. In Quebec, there is all kinds of prevention, in schools, and through community organizations.

Status of Women committee  That's a very good question, Ms. Gazan. I've been working in this environment for years, and can tell you that people who use prostitutes come from all social classes. That's also true of prostitution with minors. The customers could be just anyone, but very often they are men in positions of power, businessmen, politicians or people working for big corporations.

Status of Women committee  I'm not aware of this particular arrangement, but I've heard a lot of evidence from victims who told me about some politicians but who didn't dare inform on them. I encouraged them to do so, but kept hearing the same refrain to the effect that their words wouldn't stand up against against these powerful men because of the lack of evidence.

Status of Women committee  That is a very good question. In fact, it is kind of up to you to see how you can strengthen the law in question. I would say that the problem really lies in evidence gathering. The difficulty on the ground at present is evidence. When it comes to the pimps, as I was saying earlier, it's fine.

Status of Women committee  I can tell you what I hear on the ground. When investigations relate to pimps, it works; the police have techniques to be able to do those investigations. However, when investigations involve prostitutors, it is extremely complicated to prove the exchange of services for money. In fact, the police will sometimes use double agents to investigate.

Status of Women committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and hon. members. I am very happy to be with you today. Since 2016, I have led a criminology firm that does research, designs prevention tools and offers counseling and forensic expertise services. In the area of human trafficking, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with victims, but also with traffickers and pimps.