Supreme Court of Canada will release its decision on the Bedford, Lebovitch and Scott
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NIAGARA FALLS - Niagara Regional Police report there has been a decline in street prostitution in recent years and their focus these days is more on safety and harm reduction for those who engage in the practice.
Rather than arresting someone and have them end up with a criminal record, police would rather get them connected with an agency or group that might be able to help them change their lifestyle.
“Some people are healthy and are doing this of their own free will, but you have to distinguish them from the ones that need help and are not happy and it’s the drugs that are driving them to do this,” said Niagara Regional Police Supt. Cliff Sexton.
In a decision released last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country’s anti-prostitution laws. The federal government has one year to come up with new legislation.
“It is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money,” said Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in a 9-0 decision.
The court found the laws that prohibit keeping a brothel, living on the avails of prostitution and communicating in public for the purposes of prostitution are overly broad and infringe on prostitutes’ Charter rights by depriving them of security of the person.
Sexton said prostitution has basically moved off the streets and many transactions are now agreed to over the Internet.
“The most vulnerable people are the ones that are working on the streets and might have an addiction,” he said. “We also have to balance that with keeping the community happy if that’s taking place in certain neighbourhoods.”
While Justice Minister Peter MacKay said he was concerned about the court’s decision, sex workers hailed the decision saying the current laws put them in harm’s way by making it impossible for them to take necessary measures to ensure their own safety.
Sexton said police try to stay informed about what is taking place on the Internet and they do conduct certain projects from time-to-time to ensure there is no human trafficking.
“If someone is working on their own for themselves then that’s not a problem. If we find out they are being trafficked, then we try to offer them a way out and they can take advantage of that,” said Sexton.
Police will often work with community partners and the courts to offer a diversion program called New Day. The idea is not to try and convict someone, but to offer them help so they can better their situation.
“We try to find them housing or get them on their feet, we get them through detox on the short-term and also try to get them some long-term care,” Sexton said.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/12/23/drugs-driving-force-behind-some-prostitution-cases
Rather than arresting someone and have them end up with a criminal record, police would rather get them connected with an agency or group that might be able to help them change their lifestyle.
“Some people are healthy and are doing this of their own free will, but you have to distinguish them from the ones that need help and are not happy and it’s the drugs that are driving them to do this,” said Niagara Regional Police Supt. Cliff Sexton.
In a decision released last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country’s anti-prostitution laws. The federal government has one year to come up with new legislation.
“It is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money,” said Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in a 9-0 decision.
The court found the laws that prohibit keeping a brothel, living on the avails of prostitution and communicating in public for the purposes of prostitution are overly broad and infringe on prostitutes’ Charter rights by depriving them of security of the person.
Sexton said prostitution has basically moved off the streets and many transactions are now agreed to over the Internet.
“The most vulnerable people are the ones that are working on the streets and might have an addiction,” he said. “We also have to balance that with keeping the community happy if that’s taking place in certain neighbourhoods.”
While Justice Minister Peter MacKay said he was concerned about the court’s decision, sex workers hailed the decision saying the current laws put them in harm’s way by making it impossible for them to take necessary measures to ensure their own safety.
Sexton said police try to stay informed about what is taking place on the Internet and they do conduct certain projects from time-to-time to ensure there is no human trafficking.
“If someone is working on their own for themselves then that’s not a problem. If we find out they are being trafficked, then we try to offer them a way out and they can take advantage of that,” said Sexton.
Police will often work with community partners and the courts to offer a diversion program called New Day. The idea is not to try and convict someone, but to offer them help so they can better their situation.
“We try to find them housing or get them on their feet, we get them through detox on the short-term and also try to get them some long-term care,” Sexton said.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/12/23/drugs-driving-force-behind-some-prostitution-cases
So other than that you apparently like meteorological photography - your point is????
Holy moly chicken little lol. Firstly, why would they phone tap a perfectly legal business? Where is probable cause that would justify such an action? Secondly, why would they even care? So so soooo much easier to set up an in call and have the clients come to you......
Steph
TPS doesn't have the resources to do that now....what would make you think that they'll have them a year from now? Public opinion favours legalization...therefore, they won't bother. They have better things to do.
Steph
I'd say more than 10%
You know that saying... For every mouse you see, there's 50 that you don't.
Even though polls indicate that most Canadians think cannabis should be decriminalized/legalized, the Harper gov't ignored the people for its own ideology and increased penalties, including mandatory minimum sentences.
They will follow the same pattern wrt prostitution.
They will follow the same pattern wrt prostitution.
Yeah, they did that when they thought no one was looking. Now, suddenly, this:
http://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2013/12/18/Peter-MacKay-Tories-Consider-Softening-Canadas-Marijuana-Laws
Perhaps they WILL follow the same pattern with prostitution.
Yes, once again MacKay puts his foot in his mouth and demonstrates he's too fucking stupid to be justice minister, just as he was over his head in Defense.
And it doesn't matter what he said in an interview, that mostly shows he isn't even aware of what's going on in his own party (or apparently what he's said himself, since he's criticized Trudeau for admitting to smoking pot).
My prediction is that early next year they'll launch some cross-Canada commission or study, to pretend to get opinions and then introduce legislation in an omnibus bill that will "target the buyers of sex."
Handing out tickets/fines IS decriminalization. That's what it means. So he wants to have the same effect as decriminalization, somehow without changing the current status.
And it doesn't matter what he said in an interview, that mostly shows he isn't even aware of what's going on in his own party (or apparently what he's said himself, since he's criticized Trudeau for admitting to smoking pot).
There's no way Harper is going to soften the laws on cannabis while using the laws on cannabis and this new "program" to campaign against Trudeau.
My prediction is that early next year they'll launch some cross-Canada commission or study, to pretend to get opinions and then introduce legislation in an omnibus bill that will "target the buyers of sex."
I'm still not totally clear how the outcall business is totally legal, though I know it is. If the business is there to facilitate prostitution, it can't be legal, right? That would be "living off the avails." So the legality must be based on something else. I imagine that the business declares that it is there to provide men with company from lovely women, and the sex part is considered personal between client and provider, and thus not part of the money transaction off of which the agency makes it's living.
Is it the case that the outcall actually acts as a referral service for the ladies, that they hire the agency to "represent" them, and they make money simply from making the availability of the lady public and providing a means to meet her? Then if prostitution is legal, no problem.
If they make prostitution illegal then the last bit becomes problematic, if the authorities should choose to chase down outcall locations.
In my case, they'd have to come to my door and knock.
If they want to come in right then, without my permission, they would need a search warrant, correct? How do you get a search warrant? From a judge?
So from the time I call to the time the deed is done, if they want to catch me they'd have to know about the call, set up the warrant, come to my place, break down the door, and catch me with my whosits in her whatsthat.
Or they can hang around and question the lady when she leaves... but that would be bad optics... harassing women about what they were doing in someone's apartment...
To have any impact on the hobby, they'd have to do a lot of that - involving a lot of people.
If any agency has a lot of (or any) clients getting arrested, it wouldn't be good for business. Good agencies would find ways to communicate with clients such that their info wasn't easily traced. How easy is it for authorities to legally access email, pms, facebook messages, etc?
If this sort of thing became common practice, how would the general public feel about it? Wholescale surveilance of the population to prevent prostitution? Maybe if we're on our way to actual fascism...
The other way is to have a cop pose as an escort. My sense is that the reputable agencies are run by folks who have some street smarts and a good sense of people. They don't have to hire anyone, and if they have suspicions that someone is a little to "coppy" to be seriously doing the business, they don't hire them. If one manages to get on the roster, how many arrests is she going to manage before she gets dropped by the agency? One tops I figure, if the agency wants to stay in business.
Set up a fake agency? A lot of work for maybe one night's haul, the first day the agency is open... Terb will be helpful about things like that, and so will the general news outlets.
Incall will be like shooting fish in a barrel in comparison.
Of course it is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel the way it is now, and from what I see not a lot of fish have been shot. Why? Because they only shoot the fish that are making a scene, doing it where people notice, where it inconveniences or frightens others.
Just some musings on an Xmas morning. Had a lovely session last night with Lillie, so charming, ethereal beauty, never gonna give it up...
Yup, you may be right. But I, respectfully, don't see it this way.
Mackay isn't floating this just for kicks, the boss knows what he is doing. The party would love to eliminate abortion, probably more than anything, but the boss says no, so abortion is untouchable.
I see what they are proposing between Mackay's statement and the new program is a two pronged attack on the Liberal stand - they decriminalize small amounts and campaign against drugs use simultaneously. Governments do that stuff all the time - tax liquor and campaign against its abuse, like that. They think they can undercut the liberals and also demonstrate to their base that they are anti-drug, whilst not upsetting the majority of folks who think the whole war on drugs is idiotic.
Really, of course, we are just looking at an open situation from two perspectives - you are glass half empty, I'm glass half full. It is interesting hashing out possibilities, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Trying to make sense of this, but stopped when I checked out your claim that " in the US its a felony (in most states)", and then looked at this: http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000119
From what I read here, the first "fact" you post that I check out suggests you are mistaken. Penalties in most US states for customers seem to be misdemeanor. Some escalate, but a lot do not.
And just to be clear, this is an attempt to put the record straight, not to attack or offend you.
But there is clearly no point in reading what you have to say on this matter.
We're fucked...and not in a good way.
http://www.straight.com/news/553441/joy-smith-canada-must-target-buyers-sex
in which some forms of prostitution should be allowed, she is calling for it to be criminalized.
Calling Trudeau a high school teacher is like referring to Harper as an Imperial Oil mail room boy. And I don't think Harper's $38 billion scheme to try and build some ships is "responsible". Neither did the auditor general.
Yes fair enough. Now let's get back on to the topic of prostitution! The only detailed, long explanation on the subject from any Conservative so far has been the statement from Joy Smith. And it's frightening to any hobbyist.staggerspool said:
http://www.straight.com/news/553441/joy-smith-canada-must-target-buyers-sex
Hers is not a nuanced position or any sort of "Joy (Smith) division of legality"Joy Smith said:
in which some forms of prostitution should be allowed, she is calling for it to be criminalized.
Please don't then complain when Blue Water navies transit the Arctic Archipelago without bothering either request Canadian permission or pay the slightest attention to Canadian objections.
Matt said Harper's scheme was irresponsible; that does not mean that any or all schemes to build naval ice-capable patrol ships are. But spending more to 'design' our own than it would cost to buy and build already in-service designs from an ally, as Harpers is doing is far from responsible. Particularly when the company 'designing' the Canuck Arctic Patrol vessels then contracts that job to a foreign firm. Nice support for homegrown shipbuilding that is, although it likely let the former Defence Minister tell his province he was supporting local industries with our defence dollars.
And Harpo owes McKay big time.
