Opposition MPs are upset that neither federal ministers nor the RCMP will acknowledge if they are investigating Pornhub for alleged online sexual exploitation..In recent months, MPs in the Ethics and Privacy committee discovered many instances where non-consensual sexual videos of children and of women were not removed from Mind Geek’s website Pornhub even after victims requested..In March, 70 Canadian Senators and MPs across party lines joined 104 survivors and 525 NGOs to call for a full investigation. On April 12, MPs on the ethics committee hoped for a progress report, but none was forthcoming..Justice Minister David Lametti told the committee he could not “comment on ongoing or potential investigations or prosecutions,” but insisted “the investigation and prosecution of… sexual exploitation offenses largely falls to my provincial colleagues and counterparts.”.“We continue to work in collaboration with our international partners to facilitate international cooperation in investigations and prosecutions with regard to these crimes,” he said..Following a query from Conservative Alberta MP Shannon Stubbs, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said he could not order an investigation, nor confirm one was happening..“It’s the responsibility of the RCMP to either confirm or not the existence of an investigation. And frankly, I would be very concerned about compromising their effectiveness by revealing information,” he said..Stubbs replied: “Sure, but a yes or no, of course, doesn’t compromise anything. It would just confirm for Canadians that elected officials and law enforcement has taken action on this very heinous crime.”.RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki would not confirm an investigation either..“We’ve been working with police with jurisdiction in that case. And if there is the necessary information that leads us to launch the investigation, the investigation will be launched unequivocally. And if that investigation gives us the evidence to lay charges, those charges will be laid,” Lucki said..Stubbs replied, “What the hell is going on then? How could it be that undertaking an investigation is under consideration right now, and there have been no charges?”.NDP MP Charlie Angus told Lucki that an adult “survivor of non-consensual assault” was told by an RCMP officer “that Pornhub can’t be charged because they’re under a blanket waiver. And the survivor said, ‘Do you mean their terms of service?’ And the RCMP said, ‘Yes, the terms of service state that they are not liable, and it’s the user’s responsibility.’”.Lucki did not refute the claim about the waiver, but said, “Well, I would never suggest to any law enforcement that a survivor should not be bringing their case forward. They absolutely should be…”.Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan told the committee her party had earmarked $35 million more for policing in supplementary estimates, plus $6.3 million for the national strategy to combat human trafficking, $4.4 million for the National Cyber Security Strategy, and $4.2 million for protecting children from sexual exploitation online..She chided Conservatives for voting against the supplementary estimates overall and the NDP for a motion (not adopted) that called for a defunding of the RCMP..Angus shot back..“We’re talking about child rape here. If she wants to do Liberal handstands, she can do it someplace else. We’ve got a few minutes to get answers whether or not the laws of this nation are being applied. If she’s got ridiculous points to make, she can do it elsewhere.”.Colin Carrie, Conservative member for Oshawa complained to Lucki that in 2019 Bill C-75 “turned human trafficking into a hybrid offense, where somebody could serve less than two years in prison or just pay a fine of $5,000” whereas the U.S. has a minimum sentence of ten years per person trafficked..“My sources say these human slave traders can make $250,000 to $300,000…per person trafficked. What do you think? Where’s the better place to do business?”.Lucki replied: “That is, Mr. Carrie, a very difficult question,” and deferred to other witnesses present..Conservative MP Arnold Viersen asked Lucki if she had received the letter dated March 15 from 70 parliamentarians..Lucki apologized for the delay but said the RCMP had an eight-page response ready..“It was ready to go last week until we realized that it needed to be translated. So the committee will be getting a response to that letter today.”.Then Lucki backtracked..“We might slightly delay it. If there’s any other outstanding questions as a result of this committee appearance, we’ll add those responses to that.”.Harding is a Western Standard correspondent based in Saskatchewan.
Opposition MPs are upset that neither federal ministers nor the RCMP will acknowledge if they are investigating Pornhub for alleged online sexual exploitation..In recent months, MPs in the Ethics and Privacy committee discovered many instances where non-consensual sexual videos of children and of women were not removed from Mind Geek’s website Pornhub even after victims requested..In March, 70 Canadian Senators and MPs across party lines joined 104 survivors and 525 NGOs to call for a full investigation. On April 12, MPs on the ethics committee hoped for a progress report, but none was forthcoming..Justice Minister David Lametti told the committee he could not “comment on ongoing or potential investigations or prosecutions,” but insisted “the investigation and prosecution of… sexual exploitation offenses largely falls to my provincial colleagues and counterparts.”.“We continue to work in collaboration with our international partners to facilitate international cooperation in investigations and prosecutions with regard to these crimes,” he said..Following a query from Conservative Alberta MP Shannon Stubbs, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said he could not order an investigation, nor confirm one was happening..“It’s the responsibility of the RCMP to either confirm or not the existence of an investigation. And frankly, I would be very concerned about compromising their effectiveness by revealing information,” he said..Stubbs replied: “Sure, but a yes or no, of course, doesn’t compromise anything. It would just confirm for Canadians that elected officials and law enforcement has taken action on this very heinous crime.”.RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki would not confirm an investigation either..“We’ve been working with police with jurisdiction in that case. And if there is the necessary information that leads us to launch the investigation, the investigation will be launched unequivocally. And if that investigation gives us the evidence to lay charges, those charges will be laid,” Lucki said..Stubbs replied, “What the hell is going on then? How could it be that undertaking an investigation is under consideration right now, and there have been no charges?”.NDP MP Charlie Angus told Lucki that an adult “survivor of non-consensual assault” was told by an RCMP officer “that Pornhub can’t be charged because they’re under a blanket waiver. And the survivor said, ‘Do you mean their terms of service?’ And the RCMP said, ‘Yes, the terms of service state that they are not liable, and it’s the user’s responsibility.’”.Lucki did not refute the claim about the waiver, but said, “Well, I would never suggest to any law enforcement that a survivor should not be bringing their case forward. They absolutely should be…”.Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan told the committee her party had earmarked $35 million more for policing in supplementary estimates, plus $6.3 million for the national strategy to combat human trafficking, $4.4 million for the National Cyber Security Strategy, and $4.2 million for protecting children from sexual exploitation online..She chided Conservatives for voting against the supplementary estimates overall and the NDP for a motion (not adopted) that called for a defunding of the RCMP..Angus shot back..“We’re talking about child rape here. If she wants to do Liberal handstands, she can do it someplace else. We’ve got a few minutes to get answers whether or not the laws of this nation are being applied. If she’s got ridiculous points to make, she can do it elsewhere.”.Colin Carrie, Conservative member for Oshawa complained to Lucki that in 2019 Bill C-75 “turned human trafficking into a hybrid offense, where somebody could serve less than two years in prison or just pay a fine of $5,000” whereas the U.S. has a minimum sentence of ten years per person trafficked..“My sources say these human slave traders can make $250,000 to $300,000…per person trafficked. What do you think? Where’s the better place to do business?”.Lucki replied: “That is, Mr. Carrie, a very difficult question,” and deferred to other witnesses present..Conservative MP Arnold Viersen asked Lucki if she had received the letter dated March 15 from 70 parliamentarians..Lucki apologized for the delay but said the RCMP had an eight-page response ready..“It was ready to go last week until we realized that it needed to be translated. So the committee will be getting a response to that letter today.”.Then Lucki backtracked..“We might slightly delay it. If there’s any other outstanding questions as a result of this committee appearance, we’ll add those responses to that.”.Harding is a Western Standard correspondent based in Saskatchewan.
