From the Globe and Mail:
A motion to decriminalize prostitution is likely to be one of the more hotly debated items on the agenda for this weekend's Liberal policy convention.
The resolution has been put forward by the Young Liberals of Canada, who say they want to improve the safety of sex workers.
Prostitution is not illegal in Canada, but several Criminal Code prohibitions restrict the way business is conducted. For example, it's illegal to operate a so-called bawdy house, or to communicate for the purposes of prostitution. It is also forbidden to procure customers for a prostitute.
"We believe that what this does is it forces sex trade workers into a position where they have to hide themselves and try to avoid the public eye and put them in dangerous situations," Jason Cherniak, a Young Liberal National executive member, told globeandmail.com.
"What we're proposing is get rid of what's in the Criminal Code now because it isn't working and come up with something else."
The resolution asks that section 213 of the Code, which forbids communicating for the purposes of sex related acts, be removed.
The resolution will be debated at a workshop on Saturday at the Liberal Biennial Convention. It says, in part, that criminalizing acts related to the sex trade perpetuates a negative social stigma for these workers and calls on the government to recognize that prostitution is a "profession central to the subsistence of many Canadian citizens who deserve the same workplace safety and social respect as any other member of our society."
Mr. Cherniak also said members of the Young Liberals executive want to ensure that incidents like the disappearance of sex workers in Vancouver and in Edmonton won't happen again.
"Whereas we must never again have the tragedy of 50 women missing from Vancouver's downtown eastside without notice," the resolution reads.
The resolution will be debated on Saturday at the Ottawa convention as one of five issues on justice. If it is chosen out of the five as the priority resolution, it will proceed to be voted on at the policy plenary. Resolutions adopted at that plenary become official party policy.
Mr. Cherniak says the sex trade resolution may get more attention because the issue has been in the media lately.
Just this week, a subcommittee of the House of Commons justice committee announced they will travel to seedy areas in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg this month in the first public review of Canada's prostitution laws in 20 years. It's part of a wide-ranging study on the adequacy of current Criminal Code provisions relating to prostitution.
And late last year, a Victoria Liberal MLA proposed a red-light district in the city, which was shot down by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and its mayor, Alan Lowe. Sheila Orr suggested that the prostitutes be given a designated street or streets in a more industrial part of the city with no residential homes. The proposal has not gathered much steam since last fall because Mr. Lowe does not want to have a debate on the matter, Ms. Orr told globeandmail.com Tuesday.
Ms. Orr also said Tuesday she supports the Liberal resolution but won't be attending the convention because the B.C. legislature is in session.
She said it's becoming increasingly obvious that the issue needs to be debated and addressed in Canada and that the Criminal Code must be revisited.
"There is a large gulf between the Criminal Code and on-the-ground law. A huge gulf," she said.
As well, she said the sex trade in Canada isn't going away and the time has come for those workers to be given the rights of other workers in Canada.
Mr. Cherniak said he didn't know what the chances were that the resolution on sex worker rights would move ahead for a vote on the convention floor on Sunday, as it is against several other strong justice issues including decriminalizing marijuana and increasing penalties for grow operations.
However, he said it's important to bring ideas such as this to the Liberal biennial convention.
"I don't think it's radical. I think it's something that people have been talking about. At this particular convention I think it's the most unexpected," he said.
With a report from Jane Armstrong and Bill Curry
A motion to decriminalize prostitution is likely to be one of the more hotly debated items on the agenda for this weekend's Liberal policy convention.
The resolution has been put forward by the Young Liberals of Canada, who say they want to improve the safety of sex workers.
Prostitution is not illegal in Canada, but several Criminal Code prohibitions restrict the way business is conducted. For example, it's illegal to operate a so-called bawdy house, or to communicate for the purposes of prostitution. It is also forbidden to procure customers for a prostitute.
"We believe that what this does is it forces sex trade workers into a position where they have to hide themselves and try to avoid the public eye and put them in dangerous situations," Jason Cherniak, a Young Liberal National executive member, told globeandmail.com.
"What we're proposing is get rid of what's in the Criminal Code now because it isn't working and come up with something else."
The resolution asks that section 213 of the Code, which forbids communicating for the purposes of sex related acts, be removed.
The resolution will be debated at a workshop on Saturday at the Liberal Biennial Convention. It says, in part, that criminalizing acts related to the sex trade perpetuates a negative social stigma for these workers and calls on the government to recognize that prostitution is a "profession central to the subsistence of many Canadian citizens who deserve the same workplace safety and social respect as any other member of our society."
Mr. Cherniak also said members of the Young Liberals executive want to ensure that incidents like the disappearance of sex workers in Vancouver and in Edmonton won't happen again.
"Whereas we must never again have the tragedy of 50 women missing from Vancouver's downtown eastside without notice," the resolution reads.
The resolution will be debated on Saturday at the Ottawa convention as one of five issues on justice. If it is chosen out of the five as the priority resolution, it will proceed to be voted on at the policy plenary. Resolutions adopted at that plenary become official party policy.
Mr. Cherniak says the sex trade resolution may get more attention because the issue has been in the media lately.
Just this week, a subcommittee of the House of Commons justice committee announced they will travel to seedy areas in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg this month in the first public review of Canada's prostitution laws in 20 years. It's part of a wide-ranging study on the adequacy of current Criminal Code provisions relating to prostitution.
And late last year, a Victoria Liberal MLA proposed a red-light district in the city, which was shot down by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and its mayor, Alan Lowe. Sheila Orr suggested that the prostitutes be given a designated street or streets in a more industrial part of the city with no residential homes. The proposal has not gathered much steam since last fall because Mr. Lowe does not want to have a debate on the matter, Ms. Orr told globeandmail.com Tuesday.
Ms. Orr also said Tuesday she supports the Liberal resolution but won't be attending the convention because the B.C. legislature is in session.
She said it's becoming increasingly obvious that the issue needs to be debated and addressed in Canada and that the Criminal Code must be revisited.
"There is a large gulf between the Criminal Code and on-the-ground law. A huge gulf," she said.
As well, she said the sex trade in Canada isn't going away and the time has come for those workers to be given the rights of other workers in Canada.
Mr. Cherniak said he didn't know what the chances were that the resolution on sex worker rights would move ahead for a vote on the convention floor on Sunday, as it is against several other strong justice issues including decriminalizing marijuana and increasing penalties for grow operations.
However, he said it's important to bring ideas such as this to the Liberal biennial convention.
"I don't think it's radical. I think it's something that people have been talking about. At this particular convention I think it's the most unexpected," he said.
With a report from Jane Armstrong and Bill Curry
