[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

There has been a ton of Conservative bashing on this thread, and I don't disagree with it. But I have yet to see anyone showing what the Liberals and NDP are proposing.
Has either party come out with an actual solution that isn't just a negative attack on the Conservatives.

I don't think it's conservative bashing, it's policy bashing. Many of the outspoken 'conservative bashers' in this thread are conservative voters. Calling it 'conservative bashing' is a license to suspend critical thinking about the issue and policy.

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

In fairness, I don't think anyone expected the Conservatives to go down this path. the Supreme Court just told them that they can't enact legislation that puts prostitutes at risk, so they come back with legislation that puts prostitutes at risk.

Why would the Liberals or NDP come up with a plan to counter the mind-boggling unbelievable?

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

True, it would be unfair to expect them to have a new plan already, but have they commented at all to suggest what they would prefer? The law has been out for a week so it is plenty of time for them to come up with a constructive response.

Evidence of what I mentioned up top. The other parties aren't the sitting government tasked with proposing a law that doesn't violate the rights of sex workers in the country, as decreed by the supreme court. It's one of the benefits of having a majority in parliament. You can do whatever you want.

Having said that:

OTTAWA - 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.

British Columbia Liberals are 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."

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 make it to a vote, although it will at least be debated in a policy workshop. Nor is it certain that it will garner the support of convention delegates or the party's leader, Justin Trudeau, who has said nothing on the subject since the country's prostitution laws were struck down last month by the Supreme Court of Canada.

But in a sign of just how politically risky such a move could be, Justice Minister Peter MacKay pounced Wednesday on the resolution's very existence to accuse the Liberals of wanting to "enhance Canadians' exposure to harm."

"I do not believe that government facilitating increased access to drugs and the sex trade is the right thing to do for Canadians — especially not for our most vulnerable citizens, our children," MacKay said in a statement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01...n_4600307.html

"The priority of the Liberal party ... around our policy convention in February in Montreal is on economic success for the middle class. That is the centre of our focus," he said during a campaign stop with a provincial Liberal byelection candidate in Thornhill, Ont.

He noted that the prostitution resolution is just one of many to be debated at the convention and said he looks forward to hearing what Liberals have to say on the subject.

The debate is timely given that the Supreme Court has thrust the prostitution issue back onto the federal political agenda.

The top court last month struck down the country's prostitution laws as unconstitutional and gave Parliament a year in which to come up with a new legal regime to govern the sex trade. The court ruled that the current prohibitions on brothels, street solicitation and living off the avails of prostitution create life-threatening conditions for prostitutes, violating their right to life, liberty and security of the person.

"For now, I'm just very, very mindful that the Supreme Court came down very clearly that the current approach is not protecting extremely vulnerable women and sex workers and we need to make sure that we are finding a way to keep vulnerable Canadians protected from violence that surrounds prostitution but also is intrinsic to prostitution," Trudeau said.

In French, Trudeau went further, saying it's important to recognize that "prostitution itself is a form of violence against women." He called for a "responsible, informed debate" on the issue.

Trudeau also said Liberals are "certainly going to look at" the so-called Nordic model, which penalizes those who purchase sex, not those who sell it.

Conservatives have used the mere existence of the resolution to attack Trudeau for wanting to legalize both pot and prostitution. Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, a former Ontario police chief, waded into the fray Thursday.

"Justin Trudeau's Liberals have been clear: making prostitution and illegal drugs more accessible to Canadians are their priorities," Fantino said in a written statement.

"Under the leadership of Prime Minister (Stephen) Harper, our government is focused on protecting our communities from the effects of illegal drugs and vulnerable women from the harmful effects of legalized prostitution."

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, attending a caucus strategy session in Ottawa, did not directly respond when asked if he'd consider legalizing prostitution. He said the issue is complex and needs to be studied by a parliamentary committee, hearing from police, health experts, community groups and sex trade workers.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/just...tion-1.2500357

OTTAWA — Internal opposition to legalizing prostitution sparked a last-minute deal to defer the issue at the NDP policy convention Saturday.

A proposal to repeal prostitution laws in order to uphold sex workers’ “rights to life, liberty, security and equality” was slated to be voted on Saturday afternoon.

But behind the scenes, party members opposing the motion pushed for it to be delayed. A compromise was reached and Vancouver East MP Libby Davies moved an amendment calling on the proposal to be put off for further study.

“We need to build a consensus and we need to do this the right way,” Davies told the crowd.

The amendment was passed.

Legalizing sex work will now be studied by the party’s federal council. It must report back by November with a policy, but it will not go before the membership until the party’s next policy convention.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/...n-prostitution