Quebec Hookers Should think Twice about Going Legal

A recent Ontario court decision striking down aspects of Canada's prostitution laws has Quebec hookers and their support groups excited about legalization.

"....a coalition of academics, feminists, sex trade workers and human rights experts are to gather at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute to support a recent decision by Ontario Superior Court Judge Susan Himel striking down key sections of Canada's Criminal Code regulating prostitution.

"We believe sex workers have the right to live and work safely, in an environment free of violence and discrimination," a statement signed by 40 professors, lawyers and community activists says." LINK

Before embracing legalization, sex traders might just want to consider what they are getting themselves into, it might not be such a good deal.

Prostitution is not an easy vocation. For all but the exclusive high end "Eliot Spitzer' type of hooker, it can be dangerous and hard work that isn't particularly lucrative. 

Unfortunately, legalization won't change any of that.

What would legalization bring hookers?

Certainly they could crawl out from the murky undershadows of society, but if they think they will earn a measure of acceptance in the mainstream, they are sorely mistaken. Legal or not, hookers are on the bottom of the respect list. While men may be ambivalent, women hate them with a passion.

On the positive side, legalization may release hookers from the stranglehold that their pimps exercise over their lives, brutally dictating their work conditions and taking a sizable chunk of their earnings.

But with legalization, prostitutes would be encumbered with the responsibilities of good citizenship including the obligation to obey laws and pay taxes on income.
Sadly, This would eliminate any savings they would gain by getting rid of their of pimp. Come to think of it, pimps provide a certain level of protection and a steady stream of customers.
The government...not so much. Hmmm..

It's true that prostitutes could deduct the tools and instruments of their trade as expenses, but condoms, spiked heels, mini skirts and fishnet stocking are a negligible expense.  

As for becoming eligible for government benefits, as independent contractors, they wouldn't qualify for the majority of programs and benefits offered to ordinary salaried workers.

One of the most important benefits of legalization, would be the de-criminalization of the 'bawdy house.' Hookers could safely use their homes to ply their trade.

But they'd surely be required to get a special business permit and authorities would almost certainly dictate where these businesses could be located. Neighbours would no doubt object to having a whorehouse next door, so residential neighbourhoods would be out. The combo brothel/home would probably be sent to the industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, not a convenient arrangement.

Inevitably, the government would set up whorehouse standards.

Could the children of prostitutes be allowed to stay in such premises? 

Would sheets be required to be changed after each customer? Come to think of it, would sheets be required at all?
Would the whorehouse be subject to standard hours of operation?
Would they be forced to close on statutory holidays like Christmas and Easter?
If whipped cream, edible panties or any other consumable was part of the 'experience,' would the establishment require a restaurant license?

Then there's the requisite safety regulations.

Hookers would certainly be required to provide health certificates and to submit to costly HIV and STD testing on a regular basis.
Of course risky sexual behaviour would be banned by government health authorities. Going bareback would no longer be an option, even if customers paid more. Condoms would be mandatory and perhaps even rubber gloves as well.

Streetwalkers would be liable to additional rules including a special permit that would guarantee them exclusivity on a certain corner- for a price.
Limits on the height of spiked heels that they wear would be imposed as a health measure and they would not be allowed to walk the streets more than two hours without a scheduled break.

At dusk they'd be required to wear a reflective vest for their own safety and that of the drivers.

So as not to block traffic, drivers would be required to park their cars and get out of traffic while negotiating prices with streetwalkers. Hookers leaning into open car windows in the right-of-way would be subject to fines.

When approaching Johns for the first time, the first language of contact would have to be French. Hookers could switch to English after a specific request, but no John could demand to be serviced in English.

Then there would be the competency tests.
There is a certain level of skill required and the province would demand a 'Sex Worker' license, similar to a driver's license.  Candidates would be required to take a course and then answer a multiple choice questionnaire at the licensing bureau.

Cash transactions would be discouraged and hookers would be required to use portable Interact machines which could process credit and debit cards. They'd be required to charge provincial sales tax as well as GST and remit these sums to the government on a monthly basis. On the bright side, the devices would allow hookers to reward loyal clients with 'Air Miles.' Of course prostitutes would have to provide clients with a written receipt for services rendered, with copies kept securely for five years in case of an Revenue Quebec audit.

Undercover government inspectors would be dispatched to make sure that there are no undisclosed cash transactions and that hookers were in possession of the government issued license at all times.

Before engaging in sex, clients would be required to fill out a consent form, swearing that they were free of sexually transmitted diseases and providing a list of their last three sexual partners 'just in case'
Hookers would be required to keep these records on file for up to a year.

A code of ethics and truth in advertising rules would be imposed.
Discreet colour-coded lapel pins, to be worn while working, would indicate whether the prostitute is male, female, transsexual or a transvestite. No "Crying Game" surprises allowed!
Hookers who haven't been 'artificially' enhanced would be allowed to wear a special 'green' pin.
Prostitutes engaged in role-playing would be barred from wearing 'Catholic schoolgirl attire' or sucking on a lollipop, wearing pig-tails or in anyway conveying the image that they are under-aged. They would also be barred from portraying schoolteachers, nurses, policewomen or judges as this would be considered demeaning to the professions. Portraying lawyers and politicians would remain legal. Dominatrices would be barred from using racist German or Russian accents or wearing Nazi regalia. Boot-licking would be banned as unsanitary.

If handcuffs, whips, chains or any other devices of a potentially dangerous nature were to be employed, a safety range officer would be mandatory.  All equipment of this nature would be subject to a yearly safety inspection. Foreign 'objects' that were 'insertable' would be subject to proper sterilization standards.

In the interest of honesty, hookers would be discouraged from lying about studly performance by their clients or exaggerating the size of certain 'equipment.'
At the end of each session the prostitute would be obliged to hand the client a card with the phone number and Internet address of the Quebec Sex Works Licensing Board, just in case he had a complaint. In the case of any such complaint the prostitute would be obliged to put the client's money in trust until such time as the disagreement would be adjudicated. An agency, similar to the Rental Board would be created in anticipation of problems.

I imagine that before long some prostitutes, will find their new found freedom and legitimacy a bit too much to handle.
Some will likely slip back into their old ways and go underground.

Much to the chagrin of law-abiding hookers, these 'pirates,' unencumbered by the legal and financial obligations of legitimacy, will undercut the prices the regular hookers charge.

With no expenses other than a new pimp and no taxes and licensing fees to pay, they will likely make more money and charge less.

"How can we compete with these bandits?" screams the head of the Association of Independent Sex workers of Quebec. "It isn't fair!!!"

The moral of the story--- "Be careful what you wish for!"

Pauline Marois Circling the Drain

About two weeks ago I wrote a piece entitled "Is Pauline Marois Toast?", in which I pointed out what seemed to me the obvious, that poor Pauline is circling the drain. While I wouldn't claim that I was the first to come out and say it, it is with some satisfaction that I follow the avalanche of stories that are just now being published, essentially parroting this very same theme.

Enough with my false modesty.

It appears that the squabble over Pauline's leadership has morphed from an internal
affair to a full bloom public attack launched on many fronts by PQ party members, both young and old, looking to dump Madame Marois for her heretical decision to shelve plans for a unwinnable referendum.

Her pragmatic decision has dismayed hard-liners who dream of a referendum win or lose and so, they have unleashed a savage attack on Marois' leadership, determined to bring her down, in favour of a more militant leader.
The manifest and public disloyalty aimed at the dear leader can be construed as nothing less than a huge embarrassment and as one commentator noted, the eternal back-stabbing, ultimately damaging to the the party's 'marque de commerce'.

For Pauline Marois the famous quote by the immortal Yogi Berra remains more than prescient,

"It's deja vu,- all over again"

The Parti Quebecois is once again devouring it's leader in a most humiliating display of cruel betrayal more suited to a Bacchanalian orgy than to members of a respected political party.

For the PQ, it isn't anything new, the party has an unbroken record of unglamorously destroying its leaders in a sad public act of patricide.

Even the iconic Rene Levesque suffered an ignominious end, reminiscent of the changing of the guard at the old Russian Politburo, where leaders were unceremoniously disposed of and dumped from the dizzying heights of power to the obscurity of a silent forced 'retirement.'
At least the commies had the good manners to do it behind closed doors!

The latest salvo in the  destruction of Pauline Marois, is a letter sent to a Montreal newspaper by a group of young PQ pissants dissidents complaining that Marois is giving up on the concept of a referendum. While such sniping from such an insignificant a group would usually go largely unnoticed, given the context of the movement to destroy her leadership, the letter is being played up by party militants, much to the delight of the press.

Ironically, the PQ remains high in the polls and would form a majority government if an election were to be held tomorrow.
What is driving the panic in the PQ, is the news that a new party may be in the formative stage. Led by ex-PQ heavyweight, Francois Legault, 'Force Quebec' as it has been dubbed by the media, is advocating a policy of strong nationalism without a referendum, coupled with conservative financial polices which would supposedly right Quebec's sinking debt boat.

It seems that Mr. Legault's message is resonating with the public, if he were to proceed with forming this party, polls indicate that the new party would likely win the most seats of any party in a new Parliament, mostly at the expense of the PQ.

Although Mr Legault remains a stalwart separatist, he is a realistic one.
His platform reflects the reality that a referendum would be un-winnable and the loss humiliating and destructive. According to him, Quebec is not financially prepared for sovereignty, because of the huge debt and its dependence on Canadian largess via transfer payments.

As for constitutional reform, he admits that it is out of the question. He, like all other sovereignists, maintain the fiction that both Quebec and the Rest of Canada are in no mood for negotiations, fudging the reality that it is the ROC that will brook no more concessions.

At this juncture, Quebec couldn't negotiate change for a quarter.

All this is lost on PQ militants, whose reaction to this realistic assessment, is to ramp up demands that a referendum be placed, front and center.

Boosted by dinosaurs like Jacques Parizeau (it's better at the Jewish General Hospital) and the eternal Bernard Landry, (I shoudda never quit) the radical wing of the party is pushing for a political platform that is so out of touch with what Quebeckers want, that it makes veteran realists in the party wince in pain and commentators laugh.

One of the arguments for keeping a referendum on the table, is the notion that without the threat, Quebec will lose any leverage it has to get Canada to make more concessions.

Hmmm. Methinks that ship has sailed long ago....

Being leader of the Parti Quebecois has always been an exasperating affair.

The party has always been home to out of touch ideologues and disloyal and impatient know-it-alls.

The reality of power and good governance is lost on those who believe that sovereignty is a matter of faith. Just like Never-Never Land, these sovereignists believe that wishing really hard will make it happen.
For them holding a referendum and losing is a noble endeavour. Better to have loved and lost.

For the realists, a referendum loss represents a disastrous and humiliating setback that will humble Quebec before the Rest of Canada, who will wag their fingers and tut-tut,  saying  'I told you so.'

It's a bit sad to see Pauline dancing to the radicals' tune, huffing and puffing, talking up sovereignty in a undignified attempt to stem the tide. Just yesterday she announced that she is calling for sovereignty plans drawn up in 1995 to be updated. Yea sure......

The future of Madame Marois will be decided at a leadership review in the Spring. It's likely that she won't do better than Bernard Landry in 2005, when he received 76% of the votes of support at his leadership review. Mr. Landry decided that the number was too low, resigned, but lived to regret the decision.

Perhaps Madame Marois should be more realistic and set her sights a bit lower. The Clarity Act doesn't apply here and she should consider setting a more reasonable benchmark, one which will allow her to continue as leader.

50% +1.... Perhaps?

Family, Not School Determines Language Path for Immigrants

The biggest misconception in the Quebec language debate is the idea that sending children of immigrants to French schools will automatically turn them into francophones.

It is the entire basis of the government's francization program, one which is largely supported by militant French language elements who also believe that forcing children of immigrants into a French educational path will ultimately lead them to assimilate.

The only difference between the government's position and that of the militants, is that the latter wants compulsory French education extended from cradle to grave, given that the current situation, of compulsory French grammar school and high school, hasn't seemed to have achieved the hoped for result.

But both the government and the militants have misunderstood the essential element in language choice.

It is the family and not the school that determines whether a child of an immigrant family becomes part of the English or French community. Once an immigrant family has chosen to align themselves on the English side of the equation, all the French school can accomplish is to turn that student into a bilingual Anglo.
The scenario plays itself out over and over again, as students of immigrant parents (who have chosen English for their family) head straight for English Cegep, (junior college) once the language prohibition is lifted. Forcing these students into French Cegeps, as is suggested by French language militants, won't change anything, they are already Anglos.

Leafing through the Quebec Immigration Department's "Tableaux sur l'immigration" we find that almost twenty percent of immigrants arriving in Quebec, in additional to their mother tongue, speak some English and zero French. These include immigrants that hail from, amongst other countries, India, Pakistan, China, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Integrating these people into the French side of the language equation is well nigh impossible, given that the schools are the only tool being used in the assimilation process, one which ignores the parents and attempts to francize the children, alone.

Let's look at a typical example.

Jinny and Freddy Alvaraz along with their infant daughter arrive from Manila to start their new life in Quebec. They arrive in Montreal where Jinny's sister who is already established, takes them in. After a couple of weeks they find their own apartment in the Snowdon area of Montreal. The district is home to most of Montreal's 30,000 Filipinos and the couple quickly and comfortably integrate. Eager to fit in, they mostly give up their native Tagalog and start speaking the common language of the community -English.

While not completely proficient, Jinny and Freddy both have a good working knowledge of the language, having studied it in school, back in the Philippines. The couple joins the local Filipino Baptist Church where English is also the language of devotion.

Through her sister's friend, Jinny finds work quickly as a cleaning lady and works in various homes in the towns of Cote St Luc and Hampstead, where English dominates. It's only one bus ride and the work, while not high paying, is a start.
Freddy finds work through a Filipino community group and starts as a factory worker near the airport. Although the bosses and managers are French, most of the workers are Filipino and orders are given in English. Most of his conversations are with his Filipino co-workers, so English is the common bond.

The couple quickly become 'Canadian.' The biggest form of entertainment is television where the family becomes addicted to American drama and comedy shows. They attend Church activities and visit with friends and relatives in the community, all in English.
Their little daughter, who is being minded by a distant aunt is starting to talk. Her first words are 'Mamma' and 'Dadda.' She watches English cartoon shows with the other kids and is entertained and minded by the caregiver in English.
Within three years the family is completely anglicized, everyone speaks excellent English, including young Evelyn. French is a non-entity, as the couple has little or no contact with francophones. Their Snowdon apartment is located in an almost exclusively immigrant and English community. Shopping, working, recreating all occur in English.

When Evelyn turns five years old, it's time to send her to school, where she is enrolled in French school as required by law.

At first it's difficult for her to adapt, as she mixes up English and French terms. Eventually, it works itself out, kids are dynamic and quick learners. She grasps French quickly, but prefers to speak to her  friends at school in English. Most of her classmates are Filipino or Black and the majority are in the same boat as her, immigrants from anglo backgrounds. Even though teachers discourage this practice, it's hard stop kids from talking English.

Back at home Evelyn continues to speak to her parents in English. At night they watch English television shows together. She develops her own personality, watches Miley Cyrus and is crazy for Justin Bieber. When her parents aren't home, she faithfully tunes in to MTV Canada or Muchmusic.
Her parents encourage her to learn as much English as possible and lend books from the library to build up her English skills, after all it is their dream that one day she'll attend the great McGill University!
The family take a vacation to Toronto, where the Filipino community is even larger and where the family has relatives. They are encouraged by family members to move to Ontario, where English schooling is open to the children and jobs are plentiful. The family considers this option, many of their friends have gone down this path.

Summer arrives and Evelyn is sent to a church day camp- all in English.
When September rolls around, Evelyn and her English friends head back to French school, it's no big deal, she's bilingual.
Jinny becomes pregnant twice more and all the children follow in Evelyn's path. They are anglicized at home and bilingualized in school.

By the time Evelyn (and then her siblings) graduate high school, her English skills are much stronger than her French ones and there's little doubt where her educational path will follow- English Cegep.

Wow....

This story is not fantasy, a figment of my imagination, it is repeated with variations, over and over again in many immigrant communities, not only the Filipinos.

Watching a performance of Montreal's finest comedian, Sugar Sammy( Indo-Canadian heritage), who does his act in both English and French, there's little doubt that he's a bilingual Anglo, this despite having completed his primary and high school education in French. While his English is perfect, his French is not quite.
Trust me, he didn't learn his perfect English in Cegep, he was anglicized long before.
For many immigrant children, this is the norm, not the exception.

This is the reality that those looking to francize immigrants need to understand. Concentrating on schools as the only device of francization is a recipe doomed to failure.

To paraphrase a great James Carville's barb, first coined during the Clinton presidential campaign against Bush......

......It's the family, stupid.....

Quebec Botching Immigrant Francization

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the battle to keep Quebec speaking French has moved past the traditional Anglophone/Francophone rivalry.

The anglophone community that remains, has long given up the ghost that Quebec will ever again be a bilingual province, but that being said, today's anglophones have struck a nice balance in their lives, one where they live comfortably in English towns in the western side of the island of Montreal and where they work and recreate bilingually.
Almost all anglos under forty are completely bilingual, the product of intense French language schooling from kindergarten to the end of high school, where students cannot graduate without being functionally bilingual.
 So venturing out into the French reality of the rest of the province is not the scary scenario it once was. The high interaction and intermarriage rate between anglophones and francophones is a testament that the modern anglophone community gets on pretty well with the francophone majority and that the majority of francophones are fine with the Anglos.
What we don't hear often enough, is the boringly good relations that exists between English and French, who aside from language share a common reality.
I myself played in an industrial hockey league for over thirty years, in the west island where the teams naturally filled out with English and French components and communication was decidedly bilingual.
"HOSTIE, PASS LA PUCK!" It was a good natured workout among middle aged talentless hockey aficionados, both French and English, followed by an hour or so of bilingual hockey talk over a 'boc' (pitcher) or two of draft beer in the bar. This is far more representative of the English/French reality than militants would have us believe.

And so young anglos, comfortable in their environment are no longer fleeing the province. The mass immigration of preceding decades is over as the anglo community has now actually stabilized and even made a small recovery.

Ironically this doesn't sit well with hard line French language militants who are disappointed that this exodus has stopped.

On Friday my blog piece referred to a Radio-Canada investigative report that complained about French service being unavailable in some shops  in 'English" neighbourhoods in Montreal. 
Not surprising, not one of the 'offenders' was an Anglo, they were all visible minorities, most likely immigrants.  

The battle to keep Quebec French is no longer about anglos, but rather the effort to get immigrants to assimilate into the French community, not an easy task.

Although French language militants believe there is an active plot by anglos to anglicize Quebec, the real problem lies with the government whose misguided policies have actually hindered the number of immigrants embracing the French side of the language equation.

Up to now, the government has employed a rather simplistic two-pronged plan to facilitate this assimilation, a plan with which few who want to protect the French language would argue with, but one with which they should. 

The first phase of this plan is the selection of immigrants who already speak French (as much as possible,) coupled with the compulsory integration of immigrant children into French schools.

That's it, that's the whole plan!
Ah, if it were only as easy as that!

Not surprising, this immigration plan has had limited success.  Although the level of French assimilation has risen from a dismal 25% to over 50% presently, it needs to hit at least 80% to maintain linguistic balance.
The current path will never achieve that goal, even if Bill 101 were to be applied to all public and private schools.
 
Some argue that French can never prevail in this battle as long as Anglos and the English option exists in Quebec and so, the province is doomed to a slow, inexorable process of anglicization.

Perhaps, perhaps not. But that shouldn't stop the government from doing a much better job integrating immigrants.

The policy of leaving it up to the French school system and 'Father Time' to complete the assimilation process is a monumental misjudgment.

Amazingly, nobody in the militant camp is proposing a better assimilation process, so obsessed are they with the idea that imposing Bill 101 on daycare through university is the panacea. 

The reality is that schools have marginal success in countering anglicization. It's a fact that is being completely ignored.

Many students from immigrant families go through twelve or thirteen years of French school, yet they still opt for English Cegep. Why?

How is it, that in spite of their entire French educational path, they speak English with enough proficiency to be able to tackle English college?

The reality that is being ignored, is that French schools don't create francophones out of immigrant students. They create bilingual students.

Until the government realizes that the home environment is what decides a child's linguistic future and not the school, they are doomed to failure.

It's a variation on an old theme, like nurture versus nature, or environment versus genetics.

The policy of writing off the family dynamic and counting on the schools to complete the francization process is folly.

Language and culture is learned in the home, not the school. When the government accepts this reality, they can then develop policies that work.

Until then......It's welcome to Quebec and this way to Dawson College......

Tomorrow... It's the family dynamic that sets children on their linguistic course.

Who Paid For Duceppe's Washington Adventure?

In my piece  Idiot Abroad - Gilles Duceppe in Washington a reader commented;

"For the love of God, please tell me that we, the tax payers, didn't pay for this nonsense." -Anonymous

Err......Sorry. Yes, taxpayers did fit foot the bill.

In fact almost every penny the Bloc Quebecois spends comes directly from taxpayers across the country.
While Quebeckers like to vote for the BQ, they aren't particularly eager to support them financially.

The party manged to raise just a little over $600,000 dollars, a pitiful amount considering that 1.4 million people voted for the party in the last election. In fact, it averages out to just about 44¢ in donation per voter. Compare that to the Conservative party, which received over 5 million votes and collected over $30 million in donations, or about $6 dollars per voter, 15 times more than the Bloc.

It's lucky for the Bloc that the federal government subsidizes each political party to the tune of $2 per vote received, otherwise the party would be broke. And so, the Bloc received a direct subsidy to the tune of  $2.75 million, courtesy of Canadian taxpayers.

Each of the forty-nine Bloc Quebecois members of Parliament chalked up close to $300,000 in reimbursed office expenses for an additional $15 million dollars in taxpayer generated funds. 

Of course all of this doesn't include free postage or airfare for travel between Ottawa and the members home riding, which is charged to the general House Administration central budget.

The party also benefits from research funds provided by Parliament.

Mr. Duceppe himself, as party leader is entitled to additional perks and when all is said and done, it amounts to  something close to $500,000,  paid for by you and me.
Gilles, You're welcome!

As for travel to Washington, this is a completely reimbursable expense, including airfare.

(5)  TRAVEL
(a) each Member is allowed a maximum of 64 return trips each fiscal year between Ottawa and their constituency and other parts of Canada (30 return trips on a prorated basis for all Members elected on October 14, 2008) Four (4) of these trips can also be used to travel to Washington, D.C., and the point of departure must be Ottawa, the Member’s constituency or the American border airport closest to their
constituency.  Opposition Party Leaders are entitled to an additional 16 return trips for a total of 80 return trips (7 return trips on a prorated basis for Opposition Party Leaders elected on October 14, 2008 for a total of 37 return trips.

Of course the taxpayer largess that the Bloc benefits from doesn't stop the party from sniping at the Conservatives. In a case of the  'pot calling the kettle black,' Bloc MP Pierre Paquette blasted the Prime Minister for using taxpayer money for partisan ends;

"Paquette said that under Harper, the PMO's taxpayer-funded budget is designed to "serve the interests of the Conservative party" and that the extra communications staff are hired for "propaganda and information control." LINK

Of the four federal leaders Duceppe spent $482k, second only to NDP leader Jack Layton who spent a whopping $629k. Prime Minister Harper's spending as an MP, totalled $281k and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff spent a paltry $57k. LINK 

You can see a report of all spending by federal politicians here

Of the Bloc's 49 members of Parliament, over half have already qualified for their pension and  another half dozen will qualify in two years. One of the principle reasons that the opposition did not bring down the government last year was because  seventy-four MPs, having been first elected in 2004,  needed another couple of months to qualify for their pensions. Parliamentarians vest after just six years.

Some Bloc MPs have been in Parliament since the early nineties and as such will earn over one hundred thousand dollars a year when they turn fifty-five!

"It's more generous than almost any plan that anybody can find in existence in Canada, absent of a CEO of a major corporation," said Kevin Gaudet, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. LINK

I wonder if Mr Duceppe and other Bloc members who have now qualified for this pension expect to collect it once Quebec is independent? ...Hmmm 

Goood country Canada!!!