Old Port is, of course, famed for its historical aura, and seemed like the perfect place to start a search for spirits. While all of the special Halloween ghost walking tours are already booked to the brim, you can still go investigate the streets of Old Montreal, perhaps in the company of some brave friends. Look out for 18th century couple Marie-Josephe Angélique and Claude Thibault, who were thought to be guilty of setting a fire in 1734 that destroyed around 45 houses along Rue Saint Paul. Angélique was sentenced, tortured and executed, but Thibault disappeared on the day that his lover was arrested and was never found again. Further west, the streets of Griffintown are the home of Mary Gallagher, a prostitute from the 19th century who, during a quarrel with a friend, was beheaded with an axe.

See the full article from “McGill Daily”

Montreal’s streets aren’t safe. Sure, the crime rate may be reasonably low for a major metropolis, but that’s just for offences that exist. What about imaginary, unreported crimes? Judging by the number of horror films shot or set in the city – many by local filmmakers – Montreal is a hotbed for Satanism, serial killing and sorcery.
Clearly, the only long-term solution is to replace the longgun registry with a silver bullet dispensary, and maybe build a local mega-prison with a holy water moat. But until then, let’s just celebrate Halloween by avoiding the spookier parts of our cinematic city.
The home
Staying in is no guarantee of safety, as seen in David Cronenberg’s first film, 1975’s Shivers. Set in an apartment building just outside of Montreal, the film has parasites transforming residents into lust-crazed zombies. Contrasting the repression of modern life with an unfettered libido, Shivers psychotically tweaks Montreal’s libertine reputation, as if someone turned a meth lab into a Ste. Catherine strip club.

See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”

Montrealâs streets arenât safe. Sure, the crime rate may be reasonably low for a major metropolis, but thatâs just for offences that exist. What about imaginary, unreported crimes? Judging by the number of horror films shot or set in the city â many by local filmmakers â Montreal is a hotbed for Satanism, serial killing and sorcery.
Clearly, the only long-term solution is to replace the long-gun registry with a silver bullet dispensary, and maybe build a local mega-prison with a holy water moat. But until then, letâs just celebrate Halloween by avoiding the spookier parts of our cinematic city.
The home
Staying in is no guarantee of safety, as seen in David Cronenbergâs first film, 1975âs Shivers. Set in an apartment building just outside of Montreal, the film has parasites transforming residents into lust-crazed zombies. Contrasting the repression of modern life with an unfettered libido, Shivers psychotically tweaks Montrealâs libertine reputation, as if someone turned a meth lab into a Ste. Catherine strip club.

See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”

Man, woman charged with living off avails of prostitution
Police, community organizations and former victims of exploitation will work together in Survivors, a new program to fight prostitution.
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MONTREAL A man and a woman were formally charged with living off the avails of prostitution Tuesday after a police bust in Dorval the previous day.
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According to police, the alleged incident took place in an apartment on Dorval Ave. when a man answered an online ad for sex. He arrived at the apartment to find a 17-year-old girl who told him she was being held against her will and being forced into prostitution, according to police.
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Girls like “Valérie,” a former prostitute who entered the life at the age of 16 and is now living proof that you can get out.

See the full article from “CTV.ca”

The pimps and prostitutes are difficult to trace, because they do not operate out of any fixed location, and recruit clients online.
“They have no address. There’s only internet, like a website. That’s the only thing they have,” Philibert said.
Pina Arcamone with the Missing Children’s Network says pimps specifically target girls as young as 12 not only because they are preferred by clients, but also because they are easy to exploit and manipulate.
“What concerns us is that not only because they’re underage but I don’t think they even realize that they’re being recruited by questionable individuals,” said Arcamone.
That’s exactly what happened to Noemi (not her real name).
She was 13 years old when she ran away from a group home and started working in a strip club.

See the full article from “CTV.ca”

Montreal is known as a “haunted city,” and with plenty of reason. The infamous Redpath Mansion murders of 1901, which remain unsolved and found two members of a wealthy Montreal family shot dead, are modern examples of crime in Montreal. Dating back to 1734, the public execution of Marie-Josèphe dite Angélique on June 21, after a fire that raged through Montreal and killed many, is often questioned and continues to haunt Montreal’s history.
Old Montreal was rated the eighth most haunted place to visit in Canada, providing the historical setting to many of Montreal’s most famous ghost tales, including the ghost of a prostitute searching for her head and the spirits of families who died in a hotel fire. Many streets in old Montreal have been the subject of “ghost sightings”. Some say the architecturally splendid St-Paul St. brought them face-to-face with tormented souls and the walking dead, while others report sightings of a ghost apparition of a French soldier walking with a limp on De L’Esplanade Ave. Though Louise H …

See the full article from “The Concordian (subscription)”

Teenaged girls frequently working as prostitutes
What’s openly marketed as harmless stress relief for men, and a private transaction between consenting adults, is sometimes anything but.
CTV Montreal talked to several ex-prostitutes who worked in massage parlours.
Jenny (not her real name), was an adult when she worked in six different erotic massage parlours, and she says there were definitely underage girls having sex with johns.
“I’ve seen 15, 16, 17 year-olds,” she said.
“Men are looking for young women,” said Matte. “They’re looking for the youngest and the industry is providing the youngest.”
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Montreal police Commander Ian Nantuoni says that ever year, police investigate up to 150 cases of underage girls working as prostitutes, including in massage parlours.
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Another prostitute, Noemi (not her real name), was a 13-year-old runaway when a pimp lured her into prostituting herself in the back room of a strip club.

See the full article from “CTV.ca”

Décharge Rating 3
Starring: David Boutin, Isabel Richer, Sophie Desmarais
Playing in French with English subtitles at Cinéma du Parc and in French at Beaubien, Boucherville, Colossus, Longueuil, Pont Viau, Quartier Latin, St. Eustache and StarCité cinemas
Parents’ guide: Violence, sex, nudity, drug use, swearing
Pierre (David Boutin) is an entrepreneur who runs a garbage-collection business in southwest Montreal with his wife, Madeleine (Isabel Richer), a youth social worker. The neighbourhood they’re raising their three kids in is going downhill as drug-dealing street gangs move in. Pierre has had enough. Late at night, he puts on a ski mask and goes out with his buddies to crack some heads and send the gangs packing.
That’s how he meets Ève (Sophie Desmarais), a teenage prostitute.
She’s sprawled on top of some refuse in an alley, stoned. Pierre has a flash of himself as a young man, doing drugs like her, behaviour that ended in tragedy. He decides to find out who Ève …

See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”

Suspect in Human Trafficking Arrested in Montreal
Josh Pringle
Friday, October 21, 2011
A 22-year-old man wanted in connection with human trafficking has been arrested in a Montreal courtroom.
Ottawa Police issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant last week for Jamie Byron on charges of material benefit-human trafficking, keeping a common bawdy house and living off the avails of juvenile prostitution.
Police say Byron was arrested on Wednesday in Montreal when he appeared in court on an unrelated matter.
22-year-old Katherine Edwards from Toronto was charged with human trafficking last month

See the full article from “580 CFRA Radio”

Jamie Byron had been sought by Ottawa police on charges of keeping a common bawdy house, living off the avails of juvenile prostitution, exercising control over a person for prostitution and trafficking a person under 18 years old. The charges relate to a 17-year-old Windsor girl who was recruited in Ottawa for prostitution.
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Edwards is also facing charges of living off the avails of prostitution of a person under the age of 18, exercising control over a person for prostitution and a breach of recognizance.
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In 2009, a man accused of forcing three young women into prostitution received a 14-month sentence with three yearsâ probation.
Gordon John Kingsbury, 34, had pleaded guilty in Gatineau to living off the avails of a prostitution network run by an Ottawa woman and to sexually assaulting one of the young victims.

See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”