N.S. Reaction to Ontario Court Decision

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Some Halifax-based reaction to the Ontario court decision. Dan Arsenault reports for the Chronicle-Herald, 30 Sept 2010:

 

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1204444.html

An Ontario court decision striking down three prostitution-related laws Tuesday won?t make any immediate difference in Halifax, says a police spokesman.

 

"At this point, we don?t foresee any changes in our operations," Const. Brian Palmeter, with

Halifax Regional Police

, said Wednesday.

 

"We will be reviewing this decision with the Public Prosecution Service to see what effect, if any, it will have on us and how we police."

 

Palmeter wouldn?t say if officers will continue to conduct undercover sting operations where they imitate prostitutes or customers to lay charges for communicating for the purposes of prostitution ? one of the laws that was struck down.

 

The other two laws ? living off the avails of prostitution and keeping a common bawdy house ? were both struck down in Ontario Superior Court when Justice Susan Himel said they put sex workers in jeopardy.

 

Chris Hansen, a spokeswoman with the

Nova Scotia prosecution service

, said Crown attorneys intend to follow through on cases where people have been charged with any of the three laws.

 

"My understanding now is that it is business as usual."

 

The federal government will appeal the Ontario court decision that struck down the prostitution laws, The Canadian Press said Wednesday.

 

Hansen said decisions from courts in other provinces aren?t binding in Nova Scotia.

 

Dr. Michael Goodyear, a prostitution expert at Dalhousie University?s medical school

, said it is too early to know how the legal ruling will change prostitution in Canada.

 

"I don?t think we?re going to see any huge changes in the landscape overnight. The social stigma, the prejudice still persists.

 

"It?s not a question of what it means; it?s a question of what people are going to do about it," he said, referring to how the decision is handled by appeal courts, governments, police, sex workers and social service agencies.

 

However,

Goodyear said he believes anyone in Nova Scotia that is charged with any of the three laws should immediately cite the Ontario situation.

 

"No judge is going to ignore what?s just happened in Ontario."

He said he hopes the laws are changed to make sex work more acceptable so that those involved feel they can approach police when they encounter violence.

 

There are already laws in place that should protect sex workers from pimps, he said.

 

"Exploitation, slavery, physical assault (and) imprisonment are all illegal in our country and you don?t really need new laws."

 

The Australian state of New South Wales changed its prostitution laws in the 1970s, and New Zealand did the same in the 1990s, he said.

 

Both jurisdictions got rid of their pimping laws, which were adopted from England, he said.

 

"None of the terrible things that people predicted were going to happen actually happened. Sex workers basically feel safe. They have good relations with the police. They can go to police for protection if there?s a problem."

[Guest s******ecan****]

Interesting article in the Globe and Mail as well talks about how communities might start scrambling for by-laws etc. It also cites an example of one "communicating" charge already being withdrawn by the Crown in Ontarion in light of the ruling.

[fortunateone 156618]

I think stopping the street stings would be a welcome thing. Since the whole concept is ridiculous anyway, considering the actual act of prostitution is legal, then setting up to target anyone soliciting (just talking about it in public) doesn't really help anyone. If the street workers are a nuisance, most cities have other laws in place to keep them moving along. And the guys, I am sure they can figure out something to keep them moving along. Even traffic infractions can work, like no stopping zones, etc. It seems like such a waste of resources and time, when they could be focusing on drunk drivers, speeders, dangerous drivers, etc.

[the12jj 100]

huh.... wow i hope they don't legalize this in ns... taxes r soon to follow