Shiny Pony strikes again!
First pot, now prostitution: Liberal party to debate legalization
First it was pot; now it's prostitution.
Liberals broke new ground at their last national policy convention, becoming the first federal party to advocate legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana.
And now some Grits want the party to take the same approach to the world's oldest profession.
The British Columbia wing of the federal Liberal party is proposing a resolution for the party's next national convention aimed at ensuring sex trade workers are legally able to run a "safe and successful business," which would be licensed to safeguard employees, employers and clients and taxed just like "any other commercial enterprise."
Proposal originated with BC youth wing
The resolution was initiated last year by Young Liberals in B.C. and was later adopted by the provincial branch of the federal party as one of 10 priority resolutions it would like to see debated at the national convention in Montreal next month.
It's not certain at this point that the resolution will ultimately make it to the floor of the convention for a vote, although it will at least be debated in a policy workshop.
But it would seem an opportune time to gauge the mood of the party on the subject, given that the Supreme Court last month struck down the country's prostitution laws as unconstitutional — a development the drafters of the resolution had not anticipated.
The top court ruled that the prohibition on brothels, living off the avails of prostitution and street soliciting imposes dangerous conditions on prostitutes and thus violates their right to life, liberty and security of the person.
It gave Parliament one year to come up with a new law, thrusting the hot potato firmly into the court of federal politicians.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has signalled its intention to ensure prostitution remains a matter of criminal law, perhaps by adopting the so-called Nordic model of penalizing those who purchase sex, rather than those who sell it.
First pot, now prostitution: Liberal party to debate legalization
First pot, now prostitution: Liberal party to debate legalization
First it was pot; now it's prostitution.
Liberals broke new ground at their last national policy convention, becoming the first federal party to advocate legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana.
And now some Grits want the party to take the same approach to the world's oldest profession.
The British Columbia wing of the federal Liberal party is proposing a resolution for the party's next national convention aimed at ensuring sex trade workers are legally able to run a "safe and successful business," which would be licensed to safeguard employees, employers and clients and taxed just like "any other commercial enterprise."
Proposal originated with BC youth wing
The resolution was initiated last year by Young Liberals in B.C. and was later adopted by the provincial branch of the federal party as one of 10 priority resolutions it would like to see debated at the national convention in Montreal next month.
It's not certain at this point that the resolution will ultimately make it to the floor of the convention for a vote, although it will at least be debated in a policy workshop.
But it would seem an opportune time to gauge the mood of the party on the subject, given that the Supreme Court last month struck down the country's prostitution laws as unconstitutional — a development the drafters of the resolution had not anticipated.
The top court ruled that the prohibition on brothels, living off the avails of prostitution and street soliciting imposes dangerous conditions on prostitutes and thus violates their right to life, liberty and security of the person.
It gave Parliament one year to come up with a new law, thrusting the hot potato firmly into the court of federal politicians.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has signalled its intention to ensure prostitution remains a matter of criminal law, perhaps by adopting the so-called Nordic model of penalizing those who purchase sex, rather than those who sell it.
First pot, now prostitution: Liberal party to debate legalization
