COPE COUNCILLOR BACKS CITY-OWNED BROTHEL

Helping Prostitutes Okay As Long As City Doesn't Make Money At It,
Tim Louis Says

Vancouver should open a not-for-profit brothel to help drug-addicted
prostitutes, Committee of Progressive Electors Coun. Tim Louis said Wednesday.

Speaking to The Vancouver Sun's editorial board as part of a civic
election tour, Louis said he's in favour of retiring Mayor Larry
Campbell's idea of considering a red light district to help protect
"survival" sex trade workers.

When asked if he thought the city should open its own brothel, Louis
said yes, as long as the city doesn't make any money at it.

"Many people involved in survival sex are drug addicted, and it is a
crime that we don't have treatment on demand, so there would be many
benefits of a brothel run on a break-even basis," he said.

"Generally speaking, so long as it is, number one, break even, number
two, medical services are available, and number three, drug treatment
is available on demand, then yes, I support it," he said.

He said the sex trade in the Downtown Eastside is based around the
drug trade, and the city needs to offer protection and health
services to prostitutes.

Louis' comments came only 10 days before a relatively low-key civic
election, when his political party was asked to give a report card on
itself to the newspaper's editorial board.

He also said he thinks council should tell the Vancouver police
department to stop laying criminal charges against prostitutes while
a study of the sex trade industry is underway. The study is a
collaboration by police department, the city, Vancouver Coastal
Health Authority, business groups and current and former sex trade workers.

Prostitution is not illegal, but communication in a public place for
the purpose of prostitution is illegal.

COPE Coun. David Cadman was less supportive, saying he would want to
study the idea of setting up a city-run brothel, and would want a lot
of public dialogue. But he objected to the city being involved on a
for-profit basis.

"The city should not run a brothel. That's not the city's business. I
don't believe it's the city's business to live off the avails of
prostitution," he said.

When it was pointed out to him that the city is already profiting
from prostitution because it charges large fees to license escort
agencies, Cadman said all of the money covers the cost of licensing.
"It's not a profit-making venture."

Sam Sullivan, the mayoral candidate for the centre-right Non-Partisan
Association, said he was appalled by Louis's comments.

"The goal should be to help these women get out of the survival sex
trade, not keep them in it," he said. "I'm running to be mayor to
help people, not to get into the business of being a pimp."

He said Louis, whom he once described as having warped principles, is
giving voters a taste of what he'd be like if elected to another
three-year term.

"It doesn't surprise me that he is saying these things. I've been
listening to these kinds of crazy ideas for three years, and it's
only during a general election that people get to appreciate what
I've been going through," Sullivan said.

Vancouver East MP Libby Davies, who is vice-chairman of a
parliamentary committee examining the need for legislative reform on
prostitution, said she's not surprised by Louis's comments.

The committee, which held cross-Canada hearings and interviewed sex
trade workers and municipalities, will issue its recommendations
within weeks. "I think Tim's comments are a bit ahead of where we
need to go right now," she said. "But we have said we want law reform
that focuses on the issues of exploitation and harm."