HRDC Job Bank Proposal: Include Strippers and Escorts

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Richard J. Brennan reports in the Hamilton Spectator, 13 Oct 2010:

 

http://www.thespec.com/news/world/article/267068--conservatives-say-prostitution-bad-but-escorts-good

 

OTTAWA The Conservative government wants to help unemployed Canadians find careers as strippers and for-hire escorts.

 

According to an Oct. 1 draft memo obtained by the Toronto Star, Ottawa has determined these careers once considered ?morally offensive? should be put on the federal government?s Job Bank, which is also available for use by the provinces.

 

The surprise memo from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada has set a few tongues a wagging among those wondering how these careers suddenly became respectable, and how Conservatives could allow this to happen.

 

?This is such a contradiction for the holier-than-thou family-values gang to all of a sudden endorse an escort service as a legitimate occupation for unemployed Canadian women,? NDP MP Pat Martin said.

 

Terri-Jean Bedford, the dominatrix who went to court and got Canada?s prostitution laws thrown out, said these are legitimate occupations and ?it?s high time that people stop being so judgmental about another person?s occupation.?

 

?There are a lot of unsavoury occupations that I would never apply for ? soldier being one of them and politician probably being another,? Bedford said.

 

The job-posting change is at odds with the Conservatives? outrage over a recent federal court decision stating that Canada?s prostitution violated the Constitution. The government immediately appealed the decision, saying, ?Prostitution is a problem that harms individuals and communities.?

 

?This is appalling activity by our government because what they are really doing is promoting the subjugation of woman for the most part,? said Charles McVety, the president of Canadian Christian College.

 

?It is also hypocritical that this would this would be done under a Conservative government,? he said.

 

The draft policy, which has yet to be implemented, stated that the following occupations will ?be acceptable for posting on Job Bank?:

? Exotic dancer, erotic dancer, nude dancer, striptease dancer and table dancer.

? Escort, chat line agent, phone agent for personal services [read phone sex lines] and telephone agent for personal services [again, read phone sex lines].

 

Many of these occupations in a 2003 memo from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRDC) were described as being ?morally offensive by the majority of Canadians,? a category that includes advertising for models for pornographic videos.

 

It is not the first time that strippers have caused problems for the federal government of the day.

 

In 2004, the opposition called for then-immigration minister Judy Sgro?s resignation over her office?s decision to extend a residence permit to a Romanian stripper, and Ottawa?s controversial program to allow foreign strippers to get special work visas.

 

?The Conservatives were all over that,? recalled McVety. ?That?s why I?m a little incredulous that a Conservative government would do this.?

[Mister T 45020]

When i saw the title, i was thinking of the Immigration minister of a few years ago, until i saw it mentioned by the author :

 

"It is not the first time that strippers have caused problems for the federal government of the day.

 

In 2004, the opposition called for then-immigration minister Judy Sgro?s resignation over her office?s decision to extend a residence permit to a Romanian stripper, and Ottawa?s controversial program to allow foreign strippers to get special work visas."

 

Not sure that placement officers will promote those jobs if it gets there ...

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Lee Greenberg reports for the Ottawa Citizen, 14 Oct 2010:

 

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/UPDATE+Ontario+post+trade+employment+minister+tells+feds/3672088/story.html

 

TORONTO ? Federal officials denied Thursday they were ever seriously considering advertising for strippers, escorts and chat line agents on a taxpayer-funded jobs website.

 

A spokesman for federal Human Resources minister Diane Finley says a draft memo about such a proposal was the product of junior-level discussions and was never seriously considered.

 

Ryan Sparrow said the first time the minister heard of the discussion was when a Toronto newspaper reported on it Thursday morning.

 

?I can assure you this does not reflect any policy or policy direction of the government,? said Ryan Sparrow. ?These are junior officials at the department of HRDC on a working group with the Ontario government on Canada Job Bank. The draft notice is completely unacceptable and does not reflect any policy considered by our government.?

 

Despite the blunt denial from the federal government, an indignant Ontario cabinet minister was moved to write a letter expressing deep concern.

 

John Milloy, the province?s minister of training, colleges and universities, declared himself ?deeply concerned? in the missive to Finley Thursday.

 

?We will not be posting ads for strippers or escorts or chat line agents on the Job Bank,? he concluded.

 

In an interview, Milloy later put an even finer point on it.

 

?If a final directive of this nature comes forward, we?re going to ignore it,? he said. ?And if the federal government wants to sue me over it, they can.?

 

Milloy further explained: ?I don?t want to cast aspersions on individual?s career choices. But at the same time we?re talking about a taxpayer funded system. I don?t think it?s appropriate to be recruiting strippers and escorts through a taxpayer-funded system.?

 

Charles McVety, president of the Canada Christian College, said he suspected the policy discussion emerged from low-level bureaucratic circles.

 

?This would be a full scale betrayal of the (family values) mandate this government was given,? he said. ?If this is a policy of the Conservative government, I would ask them to remove the name Conservative from their party.?

 

Sparrow didn?t want to guess how the apparently low-level discussions were obtained by a journalist.

 

?I won?t comment on that or speculate how the media obtained it,? he said.