Supreme Court strikes down Canada's prostitution laws

[CallMeWilliam]

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously struck down as unconstitutional the entire scheme of criminal laws against the buying and selling of sex by prostitutes, saying it endangers the lives and security of vulnerable sex workers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e16067485/

The actual document...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/192732313/Sup ... ution-laws

 

[Crumb]

:mlooking for nearest brothel

but good for SCC for being progressive. now watch the Harper gov outlaw the paying customers

 

[CallMeWilliam]

Yeah it will be interesting how quickly the Government addresses this or does nothing being we have an election in Oct. 2015. It may become one of the issues that swings voters especially if the laws have not be updated to reflect the courts decision.

 

[Sevrin]

This is good news. As the law was (and is for another year), it was illegal for sex workers to even hire an accountant or driver, since any money they would receive would be "avails of prostitution".

The down side is that the Harper government might simply try to make prostitution illegal altogether, or try the Swedish model of making the sale of sex legal, but not the purchase.

 

[Gen]

Yeah it will be interesting how quickly the Government addresses this or does nothing being we have an election in Oct. 2015. It may become one of the issues that swings voters especially if the laws have not be updated to reflect the courts decision.

Don't they have to be updated by Dec 2014?

I am quite excited about this whole ruling, I think it is amazing progress and I'm proud of the women who spearheaded it & the people who fought for it. I'm also lad that it's forcing these issues into the mainstream.

 

[Crumb]

Yeah it will be interesting how quickly the Government addresses this or does nothing being we have an election in Oct. 2015. It may become one of the issues that swings voters especially if the laws have not be updated to reflect the courts decision.

Don't they have to be updated by Dec 2014?

I am quite excited about this whole ruling, I think it is amazing progress and I'm proud of the women who spearheaded it & the people who fought for it. I'm also lad that it's forcing these issues into the mainstream.

correct
"Parliament has been given a one-year reprieve to respond with new legislation, meaning the current laws against keeping a brothel, living off the avails of prostitution, and street soliciting will remain in place until December 2014."

 

[CallMeWilliam]

Yeah it will be interesting how quickly the Government addresses this or does nothing being we have an election in Oct. 2015. It may become one of the issues that swings voters especially if the laws have not be updated to reflect the courts decision.

Don't they have to be updated by Dec 2014?

I am quite excited about this whole ruling, I think it is amazing progress and I'm proud of the women who spearheaded it & the people who fought for it. I'm also lad that it's forcing these issues into the mainstream.

correct
"Parliament has been given a one-year reprieve to respond with new legislation, meaning the current laws against keeping a brothel, living off the avails of prostitution, and street soliciting will remain in place until December 2014."

As a side note it as also been said that will be up to individual provinces police/crown attorneys if they want to prosecute or not against people under the law. The legal defence could just cite the ruling and possibly be thrown out of court. The crown would have to prove that there was more to the charges than just what was covered in the ruling.

 

[CallMeWilliam]

The down side is that the Harper government might simply try to make prostitution illegal altogether, or try the Swedish model of making the sale of sex legal, but not the purchase.

Personally I think the Harper government will draft something that puts the provinces more in control. This is a potential time bomb for any political party and since they (Harper and friends) are already suffering greatly just pass the buck to the provinces and let them deal with it. Which would make sense because legalizing prostitution would fall under provincial labour rules. If it is legalized they would most likely have to be licensed (provincial) and they would have a strict set of labour rules governing the profession (provincial again). Also any healthcare issues (i.e. mandatory testing) would fall under the provinces responsibility when enforcing.

 

[LaceyRoyce]

Im super happy to hear this. That is all

 

[Sevrin]

I don't believe Harper thinks that way. He has committed the government to avoid legislation restricting abortions, so he might crack down on prostitution as a way to re-engage his large constituency of socially conservative voters. It's also possible that he will try to undercut Trudeau's popularity by going the legalization route. He is already said to be contemplating allowing police to issue tickets rather than lay charges for the possession of small quantities of illegal drugs. He is kind off-balance these days, however, so it's anyone's guess which way he will turn.

 

[Crumb]

finding it interesting reading all the various threads about this on escort based boards, from those more active in the community/hobby

http://perb.ca/vbulletin/showthread.php ... n-Thoughts

not the only thread, just one of them
(hope it's ok I posted that)

 

[CallMeWilliam]

I don't believe Harper thinks that way. He has committed the government to avoid legislation restricting abortions, so he might crack down on prostitution as a way to re-engage his large constituency of socially conservative voters. It's also possible that he will try to undercut Trudeau's popularity by going the legalization route. He is already said to be contemplating allowing police to issue tickets rather than lay charges for the possession of small quantities of illegal drugs. He is kind off-balance these days, however, so it's anyone's guess which way he will turn.

Well he (Harper) sure threw Nigel Wright under the bus so it's not that far fetched he would pass the buck at this point to save his floundering party from total collapse. Desperate times call for desperate measures. But yeah I get what you are saying it's pretty much a crap shoot now what will happen.

 

[Jessi]

This is a bit off point (maybe) but Im just glad that hopefully workers will be able to use a damn bank now.
Talking to a friend who used to escort she knew more girls getting busted for tax/money laundering/trying to bring large amounts of cash into the country than prostitution charges.
Also:
ugh don't read the comments on any of the articles unless you like throwing up in your mouth a bit from all the stupid.