Did anyone else know that the federal government offers a special immigration program for exotic dancers? 
It's not what you think, though. For the most part, they are not letting in women who are already exotic dancers in their home countries... they are allowing skilled, educated women (such as teachers and nurses) to immigrate to Canada, under the condition that they will work in the adult entertainment industry. How demeaning! Way to look out for our new immigrants
It's not that I have a problem with women immigrating here to work in the adult entertainment industry, but I sure as hell don't like to hear that the government forces them into it as a condition of their immigration to our country.
Stripper shortage, demand for more demeaning acts linked
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Contrary to Immigration Department claims, there is no shortage of native-born exotic dancers in Canada, says a University of Toronto law professor who has studied the strip club business.
Audrey Macklin says the real reason strip clubs want foreign dancers is that they are desperate and will do things Canadian women consider too unsafe or demeaning.
"What in fact the demand is for these days is for women to lap dance, and not just lap dance but basically to be on some guy's lap naked while he gropes her and may masturbate under her and that sort of stuff," Macklin said in an interview today.
"And there's also a shortage of women who are willing to work in so-called private booths where they do stripping, whatever they do in a private booth, just for one man."
Such activities may be illegal "but the fact is that's what makes money for the strip clubs, that's what they want women to do, so that means they don't really work very hard to protect the women from being groped or abused."
Macklin was commenting on the federal program for exotic dancers, which has come under scrutiny since Immigration Minister Judy Sgro granted permanent resident status to a Romanian dancer who worked on her campaign.
Sgro conceded today that the foreign dancers "are ripe for exploitation," but insisted the program doesn't condone prostitution. She said she wants to tighten the rules for their work in Canada, but not to prevent them from coming.
"When you talk to the women that are so desperate to find a way out of countries they say, `Please, keep this program because it does provide us with an opportunity . . . a chance of a better life,"' she said after a cabinet meeting.
Last year more than 500 Romanians received temporary visas to come to Canada under the program.
The foreign dancers are often trained in other occupations such as nursing and teaching.
"There's a tendency to depict these women as sluts and whores and prostitutes and say, `Why are we letting them in at all?'" said Macklin.
"Well, a lot of them are in fact trained in other occupations but we claim not to need those occupations.
"A lot of them actually have university education but this is where the demand is and this is what the visas will be issued for. On the one hand, we don't acknowledge the skills they have and then when they enter using the only way they have, we disparage them."
Toronto lawyer Mendel Green, who formerly represented an association of strip-club owners called the Adult Entertainment Association, denied there's an adequate supply of Canadian dancers.
When he represented the industry, club owners lobbied to bring in foreign dancers because Canadian-born dancers were controlled by biker gangs, said Green.
"I do know there has always been a shortage of women that want to work in these clubs. They're a critical sort of product in the entertainment industry that is not readily available in Canada. It's got nothing to do with prostitution at all.
"I'm not saying some of them aren't prostitutes, but I'm saying the overwhelming majority of them go home when they're supposed to go home, they're treated very carefully and well."
Green conceded he has not been in a strip club in 20 years, saying most of his information about the industry came from his former clients.
"In the past some of my clients had homes for them (dancers), they had domestics in the home, they had cooks in the home, they were given chauffeur-driven cars to and from the clubs, they had a nurse on call."
Macklin said it's true dancers are often driven to and from work by chauffeurs. She said that is part of a strategy to keep them isolated and prevent them from talking to people outside the industry.
She said laws on permitted activities in strip clubs vary across the country, and are rarely enforced.
"We're not doing a very good job of protecting (dancers) from abuse," she said.
It's not what you think, though. For the most part, they are not letting in women who are already exotic dancers in their home countries... they are allowing skilled, educated women (such as teachers and nurses) to immigrate to Canada, under the condition that they will work in the adult entertainment industry. How demeaning! Way to look out for our new immigrants
It's not that I have a problem with women immigrating here to work in the adult entertainment industry, but I sure as hell don't like to hear that the government forces them into it as a condition of their immigration to our country.
Stripper shortage, demand for more demeaning acts linked
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Contrary to Immigration Department claims, there is no shortage of native-born exotic dancers in Canada, says a University of Toronto law professor who has studied the strip club business.
Audrey Macklin says the real reason strip clubs want foreign dancers is that they are desperate and will do things Canadian women consider too unsafe or demeaning.
"What in fact the demand is for these days is for women to lap dance, and not just lap dance but basically to be on some guy's lap naked while he gropes her and may masturbate under her and that sort of stuff," Macklin said in an interview today.
"And there's also a shortage of women who are willing to work in so-called private booths where they do stripping, whatever they do in a private booth, just for one man."
Such activities may be illegal "but the fact is that's what makes money for the strip clubs, that's what they want women to do, so that means they don't really work very hard to protect the women from being groped or abused."
Macklin was commenting on the federal program for exotic dancers, which has come under scrutiny since Immigration Minister Judy Sgro granted permanent resident status to a Romanian dancer who worked on her campaign.
Sgro conceded today that the foreign dancers "are ripe for exploitation," but insisted the program doesn't condone prostitution. She said she wants to tighten the rules for their work in Canada, but not to prevent them from coming.
"When you talk to the women that are so desperate to find a way out of countries they say, `Please, keep this program because it does provide us with an opportunity . . . a chance of a better life,"' she said after a cabinet meeting.
Last year more than 500 Romanians received temporary visas to come to Canada under the program.
The foreign dancers are often trained in other occupations such as nursing and teaching.
"There's a tendency to depict these women as sluts and whores and prostitutes and say, `Why are we letting them in at all?'" said Macklin.
"Well, a lot of them are in fact trained in other occupations but we claim not to need those occupations.
"A lot of them actually have university education but this is where the demand is and this is what the visas will be issued for. On the one hand, we don't acknowledge the skills they have and then when they enter using the only way they have, we disparage them."
Toronto lawyer Mendel Green, who formerly represented an association of strip-club owners called the Adult Entertainment Association, denied there's an adequate supply of Canadian dancers.
When he represented the industry, club owners lobbied to bring in foreign dancers because Canadian-born dancers were controlled by biker gangs, said Green.
"I do know there has always been a shortage of women that want to work in these clubs. They're a critical sort of product in the entertainment industry that is not readily available in Canada. It's got nothing to do with prostitution at all.
"I'm not saying some of them aren't prostitutes, but I'm saying the overwhelming majority of them go home when they're supposed to go home, they're treated very carefully and well."
Green conceded he has not been in a strip club in 20 years, saying most of his information about the industry came from his former clients.
"In the past some of my clients had homes for them (dancers), they had domestics in the home, they had cooks in the home, they were given chauffeur-driven cars to and from the clubs, they had a nurse on call."
Macklin said it's true dancers are often driven to and from work by chauffeurs. She said that is part of a strategy to keep them isolated and prevent them from talking to people outside the industry.
She said laws on permitted activities in strip clubs vary across the country, and are rarely enforced.
"We're not doing a very good job of protecting (dancers) from abuse," she said.
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