When Peter Mackay reported earlier this year that prostitution is “very corrosive” to our society, many scoffed at his moral stand. Though he hadn’t started the debate, Mr. Mackay was in the middle of it when the Supreme Court ruled our prostitution laws unconstitutional last Christmas.

Now that new prostitution laws are in place, clearly, the federal justice minister got the last word.

It all started in 2007 when York University’s Alan Young sought to have Canada’s three main prostitution laws overturned in a case called Bedford versus Canada. Young’s hope was to legalize brothels, suggesting it might a way to increase safety for prostitutes. He also asked that the so-called pimping law (living off the avails) and public solicitation constraints be stricken from the law books.

“The ruling wasn’t that legal prostitution was right for Canada.”                   

Among those who countered Mr. Young’s arguments were The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the Christian Legal Fellowship, the Catholic Civil Rights League and REAL Women of Canada. While it became apparent that the old laws were not very effective, it was to the dismay of Evangelicals across the country that the Supreme Court sided with Mr. Young.

The ruling wasn’t that legal prostitution was right for Canada. The ruling was that the old laws were inadequate. Ironically, it was over concern for safety that the court suspended the ruling, giving Parliament a full year to restore some sense of virtue to the matter.

In an earnest response, Justice Minister MacKay declared that the government “has grave concerns about the exploitation that is inherent in prostitution and the risks of violence posed to those who engage in it.” He went on to promise new laws to “protect human dignity and the equality of all Canadians by discouraging prostitution.”

On June 4, MacKay delivered on his promise. Bill C-36 created a fundamental shift, from speaking about prostitution as a social annoyance, to understanding it as a degrading and abusive industry. At the center of the bill was something not tried before in this country.

While the old laws had merely restricted the buyer from soliciting in public and dealing with minors, the new legislation proposed that buying sex would be completely banned.

The legislation was too moral for some. An enormous backlash ensued. On the extreme were a few, like Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno, who came out swinging in support of the men who buy sex. “What I’m most adamantly not,” she erupted, “is a feminist evangelical who will find concordance and compatibility with preachy prudes.”

Others glibly wrote the whole thing off as a political game.

Though C-36 was not able to shake its reputation as a controversial bill, the Conservative majority government provided the necessary approvals. On December 6, the new laws came into force.

Sex cannot be purchased anytime, anywhere in Canada. In contrast to that, legal immunity will be shown to the seller of sex (the prostitute), in most situations.

At first glance, the legislation might seem off balance. How can something be OK to sell, but not to buy?

The government felt it was unjust and counter-productive to punish those who are, by and large, victims, not freely choosing the sex trade. Beyond that, the government searched for a legal framework to effectively lower the risk to the prostituted. They found none. The clear path then, was to reduce the total volume of prostitution. And so decisive action was taken to reduce the demand for paid sex – by deterring the buyer. The anticipated result is that far fewer girls and women will find themselves in the sex trade, thereby being protected from its violence.

Underreported in media are the many experts who support the government’s strategy. Casandra Diamond, Director of the Christian agency BridgeNorth, is nationally recognized as an authority on the Canadian sex trade. In July, Diamond explained to a House of Commons committee, “Decriminalization is not the answer, and will not wrestle this lucrative globalized industry out of the clutches of organized crime.” She went on to praise the government for their compassionate response in Bill C-36, and agreed that prohibition on the purchase of sex would offer real hope to the exploited.

MP Joy Smith, the foremost champion of the new legislation, says, “As a nation, we must ensure dignity and equality are upheld for all, especially for those who are most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Bill C-36 is a significant leap forward for Canada.”

There’s no denying, Canadians are being called to a higher moral standard on the issue of prostitution. Not everyone is willing to jump on board.

Still, it’s the Canadian Constitution, founded on Christian principles, that requires Parliament to stand in support of the vulnerable, confronting those who cause harm. In this case, it seems the government has done an excellent job. Perhaps our new prostitution laws are just moral enough.

For the past six years we watched a handful of garish ‘sex workers’ clash with impassioned ‘sex trade survivors’ over differing views on protecting prostitutes. The former belongs to a pro-legalization lobby; the latter are advocates who believe prostitution constitutes violence against women and children.  It was perfect fodder for news hounds.

The confrontations, rose out of a legal conquest to rid Canada of it’s ineffective and under enforced prostitution laws. Three seasoned working girls were named as the applicants in a challenge known as Bedford versus Canada, though it was all the doing of Alan Young, a York University law professor. Safety for prostitutes, we understood, was his end game.

Mr. Young was a spectacle in his wing collar and bands, but the media would inevitably be drawn to his colorful entourage in all it’s regalement.  Spouting salacious metaphors, a leather-clad leading lady brashly claimed three successive court rulings as liberation for the “sex workers”.  The last stand for our old prostitution laws was ended when Canada’s Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional, last Christmastime.

Wondering about that need for ‘liberation’, we began imagining the behind-the-scenes reality of Canada’s sex trade. We challenged our own attitudes toward prostitutes; and then, the men who buy sex. And we wondered if the picture of a powerless young women in the hands of a draconian pimp was just part of the fantasy. Then we imagined legal brothels on our city streets. We didn’t like that, and we certainly didn’t want such establishments in our own neighbourhoods. But we conceded the violence must stop; and being told the laws create danger, we softened to the idea of legal prostitution.

Tabled on June 4^th, Bill C-36 sent us in different direction on the quest for sex trade safety.  At the center of the proposed prostitution legislation, is a move to quash an age old prerogative in this country; that you can rent a woman’s body.  It also proposed leniency toward prostitutes, tougher penalties for pimps, along with added protections for vulnerable youth.

Many hailed it the right balance, audaciously dubbing it the “Canadian Model”.  Opponents protested, saying it won’t add safety for sex workers. Neither was there consensus in Parliament.  While NDPs, Liberals and Greens stood squarely against the bill, the arguments are all but over. On October 6th, Bill C-36 has passed it’s third reading, 156 to 124.  The Senate, having already given the legislation a pre-study, is expected quickly approve it for passage into the law books.

Beyond the legislation, the Harper conservatives are also allocating 20 million dollars to help fund exit programs for prostitutes. The money is good start, but just as valuable, is the compassionate light it shines on a forgotten people group.

MP Peter MacKay

Just who are these ‘forgotten’ people?  Justice Minister, Peter MacKay, tells us prostitutes are “predominantly victims.” Experts agree, they, on average, enter the sex trade in their mid’ teens. Most have histories of abuse and broken homes. Law enforcement agencies also claim that more than half are human trafficking victims, and almost all want to leave the sex industry.

Mr. MacKay’s solution is to replace our flimsy prostitution laws with real prohibition; quite the opposite to Mr. Young’s bid. But both seem committed to safeguarding the vulnerable, but in the end, only one will triumph. When Bill C-36 gets the rubber stamp this fall, Mr. Young will have to live with the realization that his best efforts actually cleared the way for this country’s most robust anti-prostitution laws, ever.

For a moment, hang onto your sympathy for the presumptive humanitarian advocate. There some parts of this story you may not have heard. Mr. Young, himself, diminished the notion of a moral objective, when he clarified before the Supreme Court, last year, that legal prostitution carried no promise of reduced violence.  And when he suggested our old laws made selling sex more dangerous, he wasn’t speaking for all prostitutes; just a small empowered minority, to which the applicants belong. Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that was enough.

International studies on the subject, go even further than Young’s assertions, indicating that legalized prostitution nets an overall increase in violence and human trafficking.  Dropping laws has been a disaster in places like Germany, Australia and The Netherlands, where prostitutes have paid the ultimate price.  On the other hand, countries imposing legal restrictions, particularly for the buyer, have seen the opposite effect, resulting in less violence and lower human trafficking rates.

If the same can be expected in Canada, then Bill C-36 sets the stage for a declining sex trade. With many prostitutes being put out of ‘work’, fewer teenage recruits will be drawn into that hell. Not until that point will the confusion really lift off this issue. Gradually, the average Canadian will comprehend that the buyer, whether a predator or a simple opportunist, commits no less a crime by handing over a few dollars.

As we’ve seen here, honoring our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and also creating safety, is not always easy. But, in this case, we’ve found the path. The passing of Bill C-36 will head things in a better direction, not just for prostitutes, but the whole of our society.