Politics
Various government committees and task forces have made many recommendations, very few of which have been implemented. The most recent was the 2006 report of the parliamentary subcommittee on solicitation which split on ideological party lines, with recommendations for decriminalisation from the majority opposition parties, and for eradication by the minority government members.
The current majority Conservative government supports the prohibition of prostitution. Responding to the 2006 report Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated "In terms of legalization of prostitution I can just tell you that obviously that's something that this government doesn't favour". Justice Minister Rob Nicholson also stated: "We are not in the business of legalizing brothels, and we have no intention of changing any of the laws relating to prostitution in this country.”
Such a move would likely be met with opposition from some feminists and women's organizations who are opposed to prostitution, which they consider to be a form of exploitation of women and of male dominance (see feminist objections to prostitution). They point out that in Sweden, Norway and Iceland it is illegal to pay for sex (the client commits a crime, but not the prostitute) and argue that countries with a high commitment to gender equality don't tolerate prostitution. On the other hand other feminists and women's groups see the laws prohibiting sex work as oppressive of the labour of women and argue for their repeal as a basic human rights issue.
In October 2011 Conservative MP Joy Smith stated she was preparing legislation that would prohibit the purchase of sex. In response, Vancouver lawyer, Katrina Pacey of PIVOT has outlined the legal arguments against such an approach.
In September 2012, following the decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to allow sex workers in British Columbia to proceed with a constitutional challenge to the laws, the Justice Minister repeated the government's opposition to any change in the status quo.
Read more about this topic: Prostitution In Canada
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“The rage for road building is beneficent for America, where vast distance is so main a consideration in our domestic politics and trade, inasmuch as the great political promise of the invention is to hold the Union staunch, whose days already seem numbered by the mere inconvenience of transporting representatives, judges and officers across such tedious distances of land and water.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, politics or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies. Broadly speaking, there are none but corn-pone opinions. And broadly speaking, Corn-Pone stands for Self- Approval. Self-approval is acquired mainly from the approval of other people. The result is Conformity.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.”
—Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)