New Library of Parliament Publication on Prostitution

Last week's issue of the Weekly Checklist mentions a new publication by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service of the Library of Parliament entitled Prostitution in Canada: International Obligations, Federal Law, and Provincial and Municipal Jurisdiction.

From the conclusion:

"Each level of Canadian government attacks the problem in different ways, according to its priorities and powers. The end result is a broad network of prostitution-related measures that generally complement one another and work to resolve the problem at multiple levels. The federal government is striving to live up to its international obligations, and in large measure has succeeded through criminal law that punishes procurement, trafficking, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Nonetheless, trafficking in women and children remains a reality in Canada and a further battle for the government, which must also work to strengthen its social programs to provide protection and a viable future for the victims of such crimes."

"Beyond federal legislation, provinces and municipalities are also making full use of their powers to deal with prostitution. Although those powers provide strong means for dealing with various aspects of prostitution, they are not immune to challenge. A number of the measures in place have been criticized as unconstitutional, although only a few have actually been brought before the courts. The dilemma is that there are so many different approaches to dealing with prostitution, and the problem is so varied throughout the country, that there will always be a perception that federal law is inadequate to deal with the issue. At the same time, however, attempts by provincial and municipal jurisdictions to regulate prostitution locally will continue to cater to issue-specific areas or area-specific issues, and are thus unable to solve the problem on a broader scale."

The Weekly Checklist includes a listing of book and serial titles which have been released during the previous week by the Parliament of Canada, federal departments, and Statistics Canada.