Let's end the world's oldest debate

Sweet Emily J · February 10, 2014

Let's end the world's oldest debate

By Eric Duhaime

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/archives/sunnews/straighttalk/2014/02/20140206-081631.html

Isn't it time we call an erotic massage parlour a brothel? Why not stop the hypocrisy and legalize prostitution once and for all.

Last December, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down our current prostitution laws because they put the safety and lives of prostitutes at risk.

The court sent the hot potato back to Parliament where the government has a year to fix the problem.

Here's a fantastic opportunity to completely review our approach to the world's oldest profession.

Nowhere have laws been able to eliminate the trade of money for sex. Canada is no exception.

Walk in the red light district of any major city, type "escort" and the name of your town into your computer keyboard, or pass by any massage parlour and you'll find prostitution is well and alive all across the country.

Why then do we deprive men and women from legally earning their living in this way? Is it simply because we do not morally approve of their behaviour?

To please its social conservative base, many expect Stephen Harper's government to find a new way to illegalize prostitution.

Some are suggesting criminalizing clients instead of hustlers. But that won't put the safety and lives of the prostitutes at less risk. Quite the contrary. Clients would then become even more anonymous and almost invisible, but not necessarily less numerous.

If the purpose is to protect streetwalkers, the obvious and best solution would be to give them a safe place where they could work legally.

There are already strip clubs and massage parlours where the definitions of dance and massage have been stretched. Do we seriously want to see our MPs waste the next few months drafting a bill that decides whether a massage therapist can be naked or a gogo dancer can be touched and kissed? Don't our elected officials have more serious problems to deal with?

If social conservatives want to impose their traditional family values on us, they need to convince us one at a time, not rely on government to preach and impose their gospel on everyone.

There is unanimous consent in Canada today that our first concern should be the protection of minors. Let's then use our scarce police resources to protect children instead of bugging willing adults.

In the last few months, Justin Trudeau's Liberals have successfully reopened the debate of legalizing marijuana. Why couldn't they do the same with prostitution? It's basically the same arguments about freedom of choice.

Harper's Conservatives are normally the biggest promoters of free markets and laissez-faire ideology. Couldn't they be logical and consistent when it comes to prostitution?

And Thomas Mulcair's New Democrats champion themselves as being the most open-minded in dealing with alternative lifestyles. Isn't prostitution a good issue to prove it?

Come on politicians of all stripes. Show us that you are not going to adopt a new hypocritical prohibitionist law simply to seduce a few prude voters.