The immediate and confusing question is what's going to be done while all of this is happening. The justice who handed down this ruling recommended that the current laws be struck down immediately, and if one agrees with her ruling that they violate Charter rights it's pretty hard to argue (for our US friends, the Charter in this context is roughly equivalent to your Constitution). Conversely, all but the most libertarian of folks agree that the sex trade does require some form of regulation, so just striking down the current laws and not having anything to replace them, goes the argument, is not the best idea ever. I think that argument falls apart if one takes the view that the prior laws were actively harmful, and I also don't think that an unregulated sex trade would lead to the collapse of society that some would have you believe, but at the same time I do recognize a need for some sort of system.
Aside: It's confirmed, the feds are taking this to the court of appeals. They've been granted a thirty day stay on the ruling and will be looking to have that extended through the appeal process (which could potentially take years).
Feds will appeal prostitution ruling
Feds will appeal prostitution ruling
click to show OTTAWA — Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, describing prostitution as "a problem that harms individuals and communities," said Wednesday the federal government will appeal a landmark court ruling that struck down three anti-prostitution laws.
The government will also ask the Ontario Superior Court to suspend its ruling while the case winds its way through the system, a process that could take years.
Nicholson, who announced the appeal in the House of Commons, did not elaborate on the reason the government is continuing its legal battle.
The court decision, handed down Tuesday, strikes down laws against brothels, soliciting and pimping. While it applies only in Ontario, the ruling could have a nationwide impact if it survives appeals, particularly if it lands in the Supreme Court of Canada.
In her decision, Justice Susan Himel concluded that criminal prohibitions on running brothels, communicating for the purpose of prostitution and living off the avails of prostitution put the lives of sex workers at risk by forcing them to ply their trade in the shady underground world.
The ruling permits sex workers to openly do business in Ontario, but the court stayed the decision for 30 days. The government will seek an extension of the stay, Nicholson said.
The federal appeal is in keeping with the Conservative government's long-standing objection to softening prostitution prohibitions in the Criminal Code, despite periodic calls since the Tories came to power in 2006.
Two years ago, Nicholson flatly rejected a majority recommendation from the House of Commons status of women committee that federal prostitution laws be amended to stop charging prostitutes and start prosecuting only those procuring sex, or exploiting prostitutes, such as pimps and bawdy house owners.
"We have no intention of changing any of the laws relating to prostitution in this country," Nicholson told the committee during hearings.
"We have laws with respect to street soliciting or soliciting in public places that criminalizes completely the activity — the individual that is trying to purchase that service and the individual that is offering it. And (those) will continue to be the laws of this country."
While there is no direct Criminal Code ban on prostitution, many aspects of it have been criminalized by Parliament.
The court ruling deals with adult prostitution and does not affect laws involving children under 18 or measures that permit prosecution of pimps.
The case was brought to the court by three sex workers, including dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford.
New Democrat Libby Davies, a long-standing advocate of easing criminal prohibitions on prostitution, said the government's decision to appeal is "ill-advised" and will consume money that would be better spent helping sex workers.
"Rather than looking at this complex situation in a political way and bringing a discussion back to Parliament and considering what we should be doing to protect the rights and safety of sex workers as well as the community, they have rushed into an appeal that will be hugely expensive when that money could have been invested in much better ways," Davies said on Parliament Hill.
Liberal Marlene Jennings said that government should undertake consultation and start to "bring forward policies that will fill the vacuum and ensure that sex trade workers are protected and that our women and children are not exploited.
I'm anticipating that this is going to become a major point of political contention, but I'm not sure I trust my countrymen to be socially liberal enough to allow this to go the way I would like to see it go (tax and regulate). I wonder if this is going to serve to further erode Harper's power base, or to strengthen it.
As far as damage done, would it be possible for the government to pass the law that never got passed, and simply ban prostitution outright? I don't know. This gets outside my depth.
It's going to be worth watching, that much is certain.