Queer Ontario is fundamentally opposed to the regulatory changes to the bawdyhouse laws that were secretly passed by the Conservative government on July 13, 2010, and the undemocratic process that was used to pass them.

By designating bawdyhouses as ‘criminal organizations’ and by designating their operation as a ‘serious offence’ under the law, the Harper government has once again demonstrated that it is incapable of passing provisions that are publicly accountable. In advancing their tough-on-crime agenda above any nuanced understanding of organized crime in Canada; above any consideration for the lived realities of sex professionals; and above polls demonstrating the statistical drop in crime and the low priority crime-fighting has among Canadians, the Conservative government has made yet another unwarranted decision. Unfortunately, these measures are only exacerbated by the fact that the regulation was passed behind closed doors, without any opportunity for informed debate from either fellow MPs or the stakeholders who were to be affected by these amendments.
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The Harper government’s decision to eliminate the long-form census questionnaire to be replaced by a voluntary survey that will ultimately cost more than the current system is seen as short sighted by Queer Ontario. For years, queers have been lobbying and working with Statistics Canada to include the gender and sexually diverse in their census and surveys.

Not only will this decision (taken without consultation) abrogate the collection of important data that serves the development and growth of Canada in its business, charitable/nonprofit and public sectors, but seriously disrupt the continuation of ongoing data analysis in longitudinal studies Statistics Canada undertakes.
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