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rfmcdonaldToronto city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti's desire to make the Toronto Islands a red-light district after last month's Ontario Supreme Court ruling legalizing brothels and the hiring of staff is going to have to wait, for reasons apart from, well, everything. The federal government is appealing the ruling, as Kirk Makin noted in The Globe and Mail.
The federal government has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to put the brakes on the decriminalization of a key prostitution law.
A 30-day stay on imposed by the Ontario Court of Appeal last month when it rewrote the pimping provision is due to be lifted later this week.
[. . .]
The expiration of the 30-day delay imparted a sense of urgency to the government’s request for leave to appeal the entire Ontario Court of Appeal ruling.
It stated that an imminent “regulatory void” will permit prostitutes, bodyguards, drivers and booking agents to openly go about their business.
“If the stay is not extended, the public interest, communities and neighbourhoods and the proper administration of justice will suffer irreparable harm,” the Department of Justice application said.
[. . .]
The court imposed a one-year delay before its brothel ruling comes into effect in order for governments and municipalities to prepare for legal brothels.
[. . .]
In application seeking leave to appeal, Mr. Morris said the decision represents “a fundamental shift in criminal law and social policy,” necessitating the Supreme Court making a final decision.
It said that the litigation goes to the heart of Parliament’s ability to create and enforce laws dealing with complex social problems.
It said that the prostitution laws will be applied inconsistently from one province to another – a situation that cannot be allowed to develop.
“It also has a direct impact on both police investigations and prosecutions in Ontario, and an indirect impact upon these outside Ontario, since the judgment may create uncertainty in the validity of these provisions outside Ontario,” the federal brief said.
