City of Winnipeg looking at licensing rules around sex work
The City of Winnipeg wants to drop fees for people in the sex industry in the hopes more will get licensed, but at least one councillor says the plan won't work.
A report from city hall claims a new bylaw should lower the fee for escorts and body rub practitioners from $371 to $25 in an effort to knock down barriers to licensing.
According to the report, only 52 practitioner and escort licenses are issued right now.
The report said licensing contributes to the safety, health and protection of workers. The new bylaw would require workers to be part of information sessions on where to access health and social services as well as community policing.
The bylaw would also mandate other employees at these businesses be registered, so the license branch has information about them.
"This will make it harder to groom, influence, or pressure these workers to become body rub practitioners or escorts," states the report.
But City Protection Committee Chair and Councillor Sherri Rollins said the bylaw does not do enough to tackle counter exploitation and grooming and worries the approach is more punitive towards the sex workers than it is about safety.
Rollins said the fee isn't the barrier, it's a concern by those in the industry about being under surveillance if they get licensed and registered.
"This law denotes harm for people," said Rollins. "If I stick up my hand, am I going to be stigmatized by just doing something that is lawful?"
Rollins is bringing forward a motion to the Mayor's Executive Policy Committee this week to have the public service redo the bylaw by consulting escorts and body rub practitioners to see what would make the industry safer.
"Don't intentionally make people vulnerable by excluding them from the conversation at all," said Rollins
The proposed bylaw would also eliminate criminal record checks for escorts and practitioners to encourage licensing, mandate CCTV camera systems in parlour reception areas and require panic buttons in rooms used by practitioners.
The report also recommends a review of zoning rules that prohibit body rub parlours and escort agencies from operating outside Downtown.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
Body of Quebec man who died in Cuba found in Russia, family confirms
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.