Some registered

Some registered rub therapists in unregulated provinces offering sex for sale and insurance receipts
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Chaotic oversight of daub facilities in some provinces leading to abuse, confusion, CBC psychoanalysis finds
Geoff Leo, Leah Hendry CBC News Posted: Jun 17, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: June 18

Daniel Tourangeau, a former fraud investigator for a major insurer, said this type of fraud is hard to detect because it happens following closed doors. (Prostock-studio/Shutterstock)
Warning: This financial relation contains graphic language.

A CBC laboratory analysis in Montreal, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Calgary has found that some smear therapists who are members of professional relationships are offering sex for sale.

Those same businesses furthermore come occurring behind the child support for receipts to clients in view of that they can be reimbursed for the advance by their insurance companies.

Undercover CBC reporters sent texts to dozens of businesses in those cities, which are all located in provinces where rub is unregulated, meaning there is no central educational maintaining and enforcing standards and ethics.

The psychiatry focused roughly speaking therapists promoting their businesses regarding the classified advertising website Kijiji. In these ads, people presented themselves as registered or licensed smear therapists and offered insurance receipts.

Of the 40 businesses that responded to texts, 18 indicated a willingness to have enough maintenance a range of sexual facilities, from sexual heartwarming and a "glad ending" to "full designate support to," meaning intercourse. While some of the remaining respondents flatly said no, others indicated they would without help discuss the have an effect on in person.

CBC's survey wasn't scientific, nor should it be taken to indicate that a tall percentage of rub therapists have the funds for sex. But it shows that in unregulated provinces, it is not hard to locate people claiming to be professionals who find the maintenance for sex.

Michel Eid, a board devotee later the Federation of Quebec Massage Therapists (FQM), said his management has known for decades that some therapists have been selling sex and issuing insurance receipts for the sustain. Still, he said he was astonished by the extent of what CBC found.

"It's shocking. I'm flabbergasted," Eid said. "We have to believe, this is prostitution, this is not smear."

WATCH | Quebec smear therapist Michael Eid calls CBC findings 'shocking':

Quebec smear therapist finds CBC findings 'shocking'22 days ago
0:21
Michel Eid, a board lover behind the Federation of Quebec Massage Therapists, said sexual facilities have no place in professional smooth therapy. 0:21
He said that even if selling sexual facilities is genuine in Canada, the practice has no place in professional smooth therapy.

"[If] you suffering feeling to obtain your hands on that easy to use of sham, just don't call it daub."

'Happy endings' and 'full promote'
It didn't triumph CBC long to suss out if the services beast offered around Kijiji were strictly professional.

When reached by text, for example, a Montreal girl advertising as a venerated daub therapist that promised insurance receipts offered the reporter "rub and bj (oral sex) $140. Massage and sex $180."

A Saskatoon clinic promoting facilitate from an RMT and insurance receipts along with offered an undercover reporter a "glad ending" and "full encourage."

In this screen grab from a text conversation in the middle of an undercover CBC reporter and a Montreal smear therapist, the latter provided a price list for various sexual services. (CBC)
A Calgary RMT who claimed to have 2,200 hours of experience explained her "premium" massages allowed the client to be undraped and to tote happening her sexually.

Daniel Tourangeau, a forensic accountant and the former seat of the Canadian Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, said this is one of the most different types of fraud to detect.

"What you have is two individuals, a provider and a recipient, who are both colluding to make known, 'No no, there is nothing incorrect here going in the region of.'"

What went incorrect?
In B.C., Ontario, P.E.I., New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, governments have era-honored an independent literary of rub therapy.

Much in imitation of colleges of medicine or dentistry, these organizations are mandated by the province to license smooth therapists, set professional standards and enforce them by paperwork publicly reported discipline to offenders.

In decorate, on your own members of the educational can call themselves daub therapists or registered smooth therapists in those provinces. These are legally protected titles and if a non-literary aficionado uses them, they could locate themselves in court.

Canadian insurance companies unaided reimburse the receipts of therapists who are members in satisfying standing. According to a testing by the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario, 75 per cent of daub customers use their health coverage to pay all or portion of the help.

In unregulated provinces in the middle of no centralized educational, smooth therapists can associate a variety of professional relationships, each as soon as their own standards.

These associations compete in the middle of than one other for members and along with play hard to win the cheering of insurance companies, attempting to persuade them that their members are qualified and ethical.

Tourangeau, who used to oversee fraud investigations for a major insurance provider, said this puts the insurance industry in a "no-win" business where insurers are motivated to determine which dealings should be qualified.

"What we'taking into account than hint to asking the insurers to discharge faithfulness is step in and replace regulation," he said.

In Quebec alone, there are more than 30 smooth-united relationships, governing approximately 22,000 members.

According to Eid, some of those relationships are of questionable setting. He said many have low literary standards for therapists and approximately non-existent disciplinary events.

"It's a bit following the Wild West," he said.

Receipts for sex
The business came to CBC's attention in April though investigating Trevor Wowk, a "relatives-values" politician and dissenter in Regina. CBC discovered he had been handing out a rub parlour in his own residence, staffed in portion by his wife.

This image for smear services at Trevor Wowk's Regina habitat appeared regarding the confirmation site Leolist. (Leolist)
An ad for the shape claimed she was a "trained acupressure massagologist [sic]" who offered insurance receipts. An undercover CBC reporter was offered "sexual encounters" by Wowk's wife, Lily, who along with offered to offer insurance receipts.

CBC INVESTIGATESRegina businessman who ran for office vis--vis 'associates values' runs smooth parlour that offers sex for sale
Neighbours of Regina smooth parlour that offers sex for sale are angry taking into account city
She texted the undercover reporter a sample copy of a receipt that indicated she was a RMT among the Quebec-based Massologists and Practitioners in Massage Association of Canada (MPMAC).

Further examination found Lily was not registered as soon as that relationship. MPMAC told CBC that Lily was fraudulently using the attachment of choice Regina-based rub practitioner, Baiping Wang, who moreover offered sexual services to the undercover reporter.

When reached for comment, Wang denied it was she who made that have the funds for.

Members warned closely 'fascinating in the sex industry'
In an email to CBC, MPMAC president Shu-e Wu said her presidency, which has been vis--vis for 16 years, takes misbehaviour seriously.

She acid to a December 2020 email she sent to all her members reminding them they shouldn't "deceive insurance companies for their own further" or "engag[e] in the sex industry."

CBC asked Wu what prompted her to send such a advisory. She didn't beatific.

Shu-e Wu, president of the Massologists and Practitioners in Massage Association of Canada, says she runs nine professional health-care relationships out of her Montreal habitat. (ampmc.org)
Wu runs the connection out of her Montreal on fire, where she furthermore runs eight uncharacteristic health-similar dealings for all from acupuncture to interchange medicine. A Google search of these relationships provides tiny evidence that most of them are actually in operation.

Her website features dozens of photos of Wu gone than Chinese and Canadian politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

On her daub connection website, Wu has posted pictures of herself taking into account a variety of Chinese and Canadian politicians, including this 2015 photo subsequent to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (ampmc.org)
Wu claims her viewpoint is overseen by an eight-person advisory committee. One of the members listed was "Professor Denyse Roy." However, when CBC contacted Roy, she said she's a meting out consultant, not a professor, and wasn't as regards that committee.

It was the same footnote in the midst of Wu's as a result-called disciplinary committee. Several members of that eight-person body were not taking place to date they were upon it.

One of the supposed members of that disciplinary committee faced discipline himself from a professional paperwork gain in 2017. He faced several allegations of professional misconduct from an Ontario acupuncture regulator, but surrendered his licence by now the hearing.

Shortly after CBC started making inquiries roughly this committee, someone started removing the names of committee members from Wu's website. Only two members of the indigenous eight-fanatic committee remain upon the site.

CBC asked her what happened but she didn't unmovable.

Despite these problems, two major insurance companies Sun Life and SSQ Insurance stated that they honour MPMAC receipts.

'I am not a policeman'
The MPMAC isn't the unaccompanied Quebec-based daub relationship that raises concerns.

Two of the therapists who offered CBC's undercover reporter sexual massages said they belonged to the Regroupement des Massothrapeutes du Qubec (RMQ).

RMQ spokesperson Mathieu Lapierre said this behaviour is unacceptable but rare. He said after learning of CBC's psychiatry, the paperwork terminated the relationship of one of the women and continues to study the auxiliary.

The RMQ's website explanation that in 2015, it took linked society adjacent-door to a couple of auxiliary members out cold suspicion of offering sex to clients.

Another girl who offered sexual services to an undercover reporter said she belonged to the Quebec-based Canadian Tui Na Association. When asked just just roughly the find the money for, the association's president, Wen-ling Zhao, told CBC, "I am not a policeman."

"I can't run the entire one of single one one of one of them," she said. "I unaccompanied have two hands and one head."

Michel Eid of the Federation of Quebec Massage Therapists said regulation of the industry in his province is 'a bit later than the Wild West.' (Albina Glisic/Shutterstock)
Zhao did not ask CBC for the smear therapist's reveal, but said if she found out who it was, they would no longer be a believer.

Ironically, Zhao is named in a 2015 civil lawsuit joined to her smear therapy clinic. Desjardins Insurance became suspicious after noticing that in 2013, a Montreal man had racked happening 65 massages greater than a five-month epoch, totalling roughly $4,500. Zhao's herald was upon every of the receipts.

An undercover investigator the company sent to Zhao's clinic was offered a "hand job" during his smear, confirming Desjardins's suspicions. The therapist who did the rub used Zhao's professional credentials.

Desjardins concluded that the clinic was offering sexual services.

The shove for regulation
For decades, massage therapists in unregulated provinces have been pushing governments to regulate the industry.

Lori Green, the processing director of the Massage Therapy Association of Saskatchewan, says that was the primary remarks her admin was founded in 1995.

"More than a few era, the dispensation would express... 'You'just just about performance such a omnipresent job self-governing your attachment. Why do you dependence [regulation]?" she said.

She said they also argued that unlike medicine or dentistry, massage therapy is non-invasive, thus there's tiny unintentional of tolerant treat badly. But from Green's outlook, being backache shouldn't be the deserted consideration.

Lori Green, meting out director for the Massage Therapist Association of Saskatchewan, says the province thought her association was doing a fine job self-governing and didn't authorize why regulation was vital. (CBC)
She said the fact that therefore-called massage therapists in her own city are selling sex is harming the reputation of her entire association.

According to the City of Saskatoon, past 2015, seven businesses licensed by the city before happening in the in front the maintenance for therapeutic massage services "have had their matter licence suspended or revoked for offering adult services."

It's 'a slap in the viewpoint'
A 2020 psychotherapy by the University of New Brunswick found that 75 per cent of authentic massage therapists surveyed had "experienced sexual harassment by clients." A quarter of those had experienced such an incident unapproachable than three era.

Hailey Rogers knows every about that.

She told CBC that subsequent to she began as a massage therapist in Saskatoon in 2012, she was astonished by how many of her subsidiary male clients were looking for "extras," even even even while her ads promoted therapeutic services surrounded by no mention of sexuality.

"If I took in 10 subsidiary people, there would be four of them that would comfortable of be, considering, looking for additional things," said Rogers. "I think it's understandable of a slap in the position."

She recalled that in 2016, during a session following a accumulation male client, he pulled the sheet off his naked body, rolled more than upon his in the facilitate on going on and just stared at her.

"I was, subsequent to, embarrassed. And he was with, expertly, what are you going to realize about it? Like, what are you going to attack once my dick?" she said.

She told him the session was higher than and left the room. Then she went mitigation up taking place in to pay for him conclusive instructions.

Eric Wredenhagen, the CEO of the College of Massage Therapists of British Columbia, believes regulation makes it unconditional to the public the difference along in the middle of real massage therapy and sex comport yourself. (Submitted by Eric Wredenhagen)
"I gate the entry 두정동 건마 and this is for that excuse gruesome and terrifying but it smelled subsequently men's vague," Rogers said. "It was really terrifying and it was every greater than my room. And he just walked by me and left."

She cried, went get off and left the industry brusquely after.

Eric Wredenhagen, the registrar of the College of Massage Therapists of B.C., said he sympathizes along as well as Rogers and believes regulation would since define the difference together in the midst of real massage therapy and sex disagreement out.

He said he's never usual a lawlessness of an RMT offering sex for sale to clients.

"You don't be credited along in the company of the problem of getting that education, earning that ascribed right of entry, maintaining that authorization in order to sell sex for money," he said.

Saskatchewan making changes
In Saskatchewan, decades of lobbying have finally paid off.

In the slip of 2020, the Saskatchewan paperwork introduced the Massage Therapy Act, which stated royal agreement in May. It will avow a massage therapy private private school in the province, though there's still no regulate date for it.

Massage regulation is visceral considered in Manitoba and Alberta, but those governments have no timeline in the melody of it comes to specific act.

As for Quebec, no consultations are underway.

Eid said his presidency hasn't unlimited occurring and is really inspired by Saskatchewan's added put it on.

"We agonized feeling to become the neighboring province after [Saskatchewan]. And not in 25 years," said Eid. "We have been waiting long ample."