Newly elected mayor Denis Coderre has made a crackdown on the parlours one of his first orders of business at city hall. As it stands, the establishments often hold a permit as a legitimate therapeutic massage business, hiding their true purpose. Montreal has an estimated illicit massage parlours operating across the city and many more in its suburbs.
Toronto introduced a bylaw this year making a distinction between massage parlours and erotic ones, and limiting the number of licenses available for erotic ones. Police in Calgary, meanwhile, raided a massage parlour in late October. Authorities shut it down for allegedly serving as a front for prostitution. The city has long been seen as a hub for prostitution with a bustling red-light district.
More than 70 per cent of Montreal prostitution now takes place in such venues, according to a new survey by CLES, a group that advocates against the sexual exploitation of women. One case involved the alleged sexual exploitation of young Romanian women.
The federal government also announced last week the creation of an RCMP unit headquartered in the city to fight human-trafficking in Canada and abroad. Emilie Laliberte, the head of a Montreal sex-trade support and advocacy group says the timing of such actions is no coincidence, with the Supreme Court ruling looming.
Not everyone working in the sex trade is a victim of trafficking, she said. And many workers at massage parlours are worried police action could drive sex work further underground, leading to more dangerous work conditions.
