Ottawa Centre’s MPP will have to rethink his private member’s bill if laws on prostitution become of no force and effect in Ontario.
Yasir Naqvi introduced a private member’s bill in 2008, proposing Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation for Ontario – already adopted in Manitoba.
The SCAN legislation is intended to target properties that frequently house illegal activity.
If the bill is passed, homeowners, landlords and neighbours will be able to anonymously tip enforcement officials about potentially illegal activity in a residence.
Included in this proposal is the intent to further enforce Section 210 of the Criminal Code, which makes it illegal to keep a common bawdy house.
But this section is one of three laws associated with prostitution that were deemed unconstitutional by an Ontario Superior Court ruling in late September.
If the ruling survives the appeal process, the laws will lose force and Naqvi will have to revise his current proposal.
He maintains that his legislation is based on properties where illegal activity takes place. The legislation could no longer apply to a bawdy house if the law is permanently struck down.
Naqvi predicts that the recent ruling on the prostitution-based laws will spark a long legal process.
“I think we’ll see a lot of legal work that will be done,” says Naqvi. “We are walking into unknown territory right now.”
Naqvi’s legislation is not the only enforcement activity that faces potential change following the prostitution ruling.
In the last few years, Ottawa police have conducted prostitution sweeps that have resulted in several arrests on charges including communicating for the purpose of prostitution.
Christine Bruckert, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa, says she believes these sweeps are a mark of Ottawa Police Services’ tendency toward enforcement measures rather than a collaborative effort with sex workers that is seen in other cities, such as Toronto and Vancouver.
“The more enthusiastic the policing are the more vulnerable sex workers are to violence,” says Bruckert.
She says neighbourhood interests don’t have to oppose the security of sex workers because community concerns are often based on the “nuisance” from theactivities surrounding prostitution and not necessarily the act itself.
She says in her opinion, the laws addressed by the recent ruling endanger sex workers by forcing them to work alone, in secret and by creating a fear among prostitutes of approaching the police.
“The first step is to appreciate that sex workers have rights just like everyone else,” says Bruckert. “We cannot have laws that endanger any one population.”
In the end, Naqvi’s proposed legislation might have to be changed, but he says the purpose of it will remain the same: the safety of Ontario communities.
“Public safety is of paramount importance,” he says. “And also the health and safety of the women and men involved.”