TORONTO - The Ontario government says it's willing to meet with Craigslist to talk about removing prostitution-related ads from the online service's sites in the province.

Ontario sent a letter last month to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster asking him to shut down links to prostitution-related ads, and Manitoba announced it was following Ontario's lead.

However, Ontario Children's Services Minister Laurel Broten says instead of removing the ads, Craigslist has asked to meet provincial officials.

She says the government is "very, very interested" in meeting with Craigslist to talk about removing the ads as one way to protect vulnerable women.

Ontario's Tories and New Democrats say if U-S states were able to persuade Craigslist to drop the ads then Ontario should be able to do the same.

There are still hundreds of ads posted on Craigslist every day for prostitutes in Canadian cities.