Prostitution to be legalized.

Ottawa -- The Martin Liberal government is examining the legalization of prostitution. A sub-committee of the parliamentary Justice Committee toured the country in March 2005 collecting information and opinions on the question of decriminalization of the world's "oldest profession."

Under the current laws it is not illegal to pay for or to receive payment for "sexual services." What is illegal is public solicitation or procurement of such services or "keeping a bawdy house." Proponents of revised legislation claim that these restrictions have resulted in increased violence towards prostitutes. In Vancouver, 65 prostitutes are feared to have been murdered, while in Edmonton several dozen women may have met the same fate. Other cities have similar as-yet-hidden crimes. In Toronto, for example, three bodies were retrieved from Lake Ontario in March.

Changes in the law have been suggested in a private member's bill formulated by NDP (lesbian) MP, Libby Davies. It has received government and media support. Even old Tory warhorses like John Crosbie (Nat. Post, March 16, '05) have come out in favour of registering the "workers," presumably to end this "exploitation" of women.

Others such as the Director of the Irish Anti-Trafficking Coalition, Gregor Carlin, strongly disagree. Said Carlin, "Street prostitution does not have any rewards. Canada is to the slave trade what Japan is to the whaling industry.... No system has reduced street prostitution other than outright prohibition." (LifeSite News, Mar. 10, 2005)

He should have added that the legalization of prostitution simply expands the enslavement of women.