Elected officials adopt a motion
(Quebec) The National Assembly has adopted a motion to denounce a publicly funded organization that promotes "forms of sexual exploitation of minors," according to the Parti Québécois (PQ).
The PQ specifically targeted Projet d'intervention auprès des mineurs prostitutes (PIAMP), a Montreal organization that received $350,000 in public funding last year.
The PIAMP even received $2000 in 2023-2024 from the MNA for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, the new female co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire. Ms. Ghazal said Wednesday evening that she would check with the organization. QS also recalled that the last PQ government funded the organization between 2012 and 2014.
The motion adopted calls on the government to cease all public funding of organizations that promote forms of sexual exploitation of minors.
All parties voted in favour, with 100 MPs present at the time of the vote. Only independent MP Youri Chassin abstained.
The PIAMP's mission is "to listen, support and accompany in [its] procedures any person aged 12 to 25 who exchanges or is likely to exchange sexual services for any form of remuneration", we can read on its website.
The PQ criticizes the organization for offering "legal sexting" workshops, but also its position on "sugaring," or "sugar daddy," i.e. a relationship between an adult and a young person, who "offers his company for various activities," according to a document produced by the PIAMP.
"This organization does not fight against underage prostitution, it rather offers support where this 'sugar daddy' story is presented as a kind of business plan, or self-development, or a way to get out of prostitution," denounced PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, in a press scrum.
The PIAMP document states that "sugaring" is "presented as sexual exploitation," but "in reality, it is suitable for some people, for example because they [...] build relationships of trust and feel respected and supported by their SD [sugar daddy]".
In an email to The Canadian Press, Ruba Ghazal wanted to justify why she gave funding to the organization.
"My constituency office funded this group because, as I understand it, its objective is to support minors who are victims of sexual exploitation using the harm reduction approach," she wrote.
"One thing is clear, as a legislator, I don't want to give to a group that promotes or gives the impression of encouraging the exploitation of minors. I will make the necessary checks with the group to clarify things. »
The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux has allocated nearly $230,000 to the PIAMP through the Support Program for Community Organizations.
The Ministry of Public Security has granted a total of $120,000 to the organization.
The PQ specifically targeted Projet d'intervention auprès des mineurs prostitutes (PIAMP), a Montreal organization that received $350,000 in public funding last year.
The PIAMP even received $2000 in 2023-2024 from the MNA for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, the new female co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire. Ms. Ghazal said Wednesday evening that she would check with the organization. QS also recalled that the last PQ government funded the organization between 2012 and 2014.
The motion adopted calls on the government to cease all public funding of organizations that promote forms of sexual exploitation of minors.
All parties voted in favour, with 100 MPs present at the time of the vote. Only independent MP Youri Chassin abstained.
The PIAMP's mission is "to listen, support and accompany in [its] procedures any person aged 12 to 25 who exchanges or is likely to exchange sexual services for any form of remuneration", we can read on its website.
The PQ criticizes the organization for offering "legal sexting" workshops, but also its position on "sugaring," or "sugar daddy," i.e. a relationship between an adult and a young person, who "offers his company for various activities," according to a document produced by the PIAMP.
"This organization does not fight against underage prostitution, it rather offers support where this 'sugar daddy' story is presented as a kind of business plan, or self-development, or a way to get out of prostitution," denounced PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, in a press scrum.
The PIAMP document states that "sugaring" is "presented as sexual exploitation," but "in reality, it is suitable for some people, for example because they [...] build relationships of trust and feel respected and supported by their SD [sugar daddy]".
In an email to The Canadian Press, Ruba Ghazal wanted to justify why she gave funding to the organization.
"My constituency office funded this group because, as I understand it, its objective is to support minors who are victims of sexual exploitation using the harm reduction approach," she wrote.
"One thing is clear, as a legislator, I don't want to give to a group that promotes or gives the impression of encouraging the exploitation of minors. I will make the necessary checks with the group to clarify things. »
The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux has allocated nearly $230,000 to the PIAMP through the Support Program for Community Organizations.
The Ministry of Public Security has granted a total of $120,000 to the organization.