OTTAWA – On Friday, December 20, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) vice-president and general legal counsel Don Hutchinson will be at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) for the release of the SCC’s decision in the
Attorney General of Canada v. Bedford case. The case is a challenge to Canada’s laws that prohibit activities related to prostitution.
The EFC intervened before the court in June to argue that decriminalization of prostitution leads to increased rates of human trafficking and victimization of vulnerable people. The EFC delivered a comprehensive proposal for reforming Canada’s prostitution laws to the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Justice and Public Safety on December 9; and to all Parliamentarians on December 10, before the House of Commons adjourned for Christmas break.
Out of Business: Prostitution in Canada – Putting an End to Demand is a significant development in the EFC’s continuing effort to eliminate all forms of sexual exploitation in Canada.
“Most Canadians don’t know that prostitution is not and has never been illegal in Canada. The acts surrounding prostitution are illegal, and it is those laws that were being challenged in
Bedford,” says Hutchinson.
In September 2010, the Ontario Superior Court struck down the
Criminal Code provisions dealing with keeping a common bawdy house (brothel), communicating for the purposes of prostitution, and living on the avails (revenues) of prostitution.
That decision was appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which decided: the federal government had to reform the
Criminal Code provision against prostitutes operating out of brothels, massage parlours and other forms of common bawdy houses; the provision that prohibits communicating for the purposes of prostitution remains in place; and, the court amended the section of the
Criminal Codedealing with living on the avails of prostitution so it would only apply to those doing so in an exploitive way, i.e., theoretically accommodating the capacity to structure a sex-for-sale business with paid support staff.
However, that decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal has remained stayed (the law stays as it is written in the
Criminal Code) awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada.
”The EFC argued human dignity is a vital underlying
Charter value that has been recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada, and the commodification of human beings is contrary to that value,” explains Hutchinson. “Further, prostitution and human trafficking are intrinsically linked. In nations that have decriminalized prostitution, decriminalization has led to increases in human trafficking and organized crime. Decriminalization does not lessen the abuse of those who are being prostituted. It is Parliament’s constitutional jurisdiction to enact criminal laws, including those in place concerning prostitution.”
“Ultimately, one of the EFC’s goals is the elimination of all forms of sexual exploitation in Canada,” states Hutchinson. “We support the need to amend the current laws to a Canadian version of the legal and social framework used in Sweden, which makes the buying of sex illegal, targeting the ‘pimps’ and ‘johns’ – the purveyors and purchasers – while decriminalizing those who are being prostituted and offering them opportunities and supports to exit prostitution.”
Out of Business: Prostitution in Canada – Putting an End to Demand, the report delivered to Parliament last week, makes recommendations that adapt laws and social policies which have proven effective in other countries in reducing prostitution, human trafficking and organized crime to Canadian constitutional realities. The proposal transforms the Swedish or Nordic model, as it has been called, into a uniquely Canadian model to address our nation’s needs.
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For more information or an interview contact:
Rick Hiemstra, Director of Media Relations
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
(613) 233-9868 x332
MediaRelations@theEFC.ca