Child-prostitution bill step in right direction The Hamilton Spectator  December 29, 2000 Prostitution is one problem that will always be difficult to solve regardless of the best efforts of politicians, police and social workers. Even so, governments should never stop searching for ways to help people who are exploited by the trade, especially when children are forced into prostitution and the dangers that go with it. The tragic reality is that girls and boys as young as 12 and 13 ply the trade in Ontario, in a wide variety of settings including X-rated strip joints, bawdy houses, massage parlours, motels, and telephone or Internet sex lines. Police make a compelling case that they need more tools to reduce the prevalence of a problem that is often kept underground. Any government would be abdicating its obligations if it didn't at least try to respond, whatever the potential concerns about civil liberties. Attorney General Jim Flaherty deserves applause for recently introducing a bill that should help to address the problem. Police and children's aid society workers would have the power to remove a child under the age of 18 from places where illicit activity is occurring and place them in a safe house. Children would receive a range of health services and drug and alcohol counselling for five days or as long as 30 days as determined by a judge. The bill would also make life more difficult for the unscrupulous people who prey on children. The province would have the power to suspend the driver's licences of pimps and johns, with a one-year suspension for a first offender and two years for a second offence. Some critics question if the legislation will work, especially in cases where children are taken against their will into a safe environment. Critics also note there isn't any guarantee that the children won't return to prostitution once they're released from supervision. However, the potential benefits of the bill clearly outweigh any drawbacks. Criticism that the legislation might not work for all young people can't be an excuse for the province to look the other way. If anything, Ontario should have moved sooner. Alberta, for one, has a similar child prostitution law. Last summer, a family and youth court judge declared the law unconstitutional, but last week a higher court upheld it. The high court sensibly ruled that a child's rights to liberty must give way to society's obligation to protect the well-being of the child. It was telling evidence of the non-partisan nature of the issue that both opposition parties at Queen's Park supported Flaherty's bill, together with the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies. In fact, Sudbury Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci previously introduced a private member's bill with the same goals, but with higher penalties for pimps and johns. Niagara Centre NDP MPP Peter Kormos underlined the need to help child prostitutes, an issue that the government is helping to address with $14.5 million in funding for addiction counselling, medical and mental health services, and special legal services. Child prostitution is complex and highly emotional, but there shouldn't be any confusion or indecision about the need for political leadership. Flaherty told the legislature, "Our government stands on the side of victims and children." Amen to that. -- Gord McNulty