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The Canadian and Quebec governments announced Friday they will give $19 million in funding over six years to the Sûreté du Québec to support its fight against the sexual exploitation of children on the web.
Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel made the announcement Friday morning alongside the Trudeau government’s Quebec lieutenant, Pablo Rodriguez, and the director of the SQ, Johanne Beausoleil.
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Of this amount, $13.5 million comes from the 2024-2025 Quebec budget and will be granted over five years. The other portion of the funding, $5.6 million, comes from the government of Canada’s Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime, and will be paid over four years.
“The sums announced today will make it possible to process more reports, maintain close monitoring of offenders at high risk of recidivism, increase the number of police resources, four additional (police) resources, and purchase equipment and computer software to ultimately make more arrests,” Bonnardel said at a news conference at SQ headquarters.
Beausoleil said she very favourably welcomed the renewal of funding by the two levels of government. The SQ team aimed at combating the sexual exploitation of children on the internet was formed in 2019 thanks to $11 million in funding.
“The amounts allocated will also make it possible to maintain psychological support for members of the dedicated investigation teams,” she said.
The funding will support the provincial strategy, which is taking shape through technology, training, repression and co-ordination.
“The virtual universe is unfortunately a sort of playground for predators in the sexual exploitation of children,” said Beausoleil, who said the SQ is actively working to fight against the distribution, possession and production of child pornography content.
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