Justice Minister Peter MacKay prepares to end political career after leaving sex workers in the lurch

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      Ottawa is buzzing with the news that Justice Minister Peter MacKay will announce that he won't seek reelection later this year.

      Canadians can expect MacKay to be bathed in tributes from his colleagues on both sides of Parliament. The national media will play up his accomplishments while overlooking some of his shortcomings. That's the way things work in this country when you leave political office after 18 years in the national capital.

      I'm hoping that among all the hoopla, some national journalists remember the dreadful impact that MacKay has had on thousands of sex workers across the country. 

      After the Supreme Court of Canada delivered a landmark ruling that three prostitution laws infringed on their right to life, liberty and security of the person and freedom of expression, MacKay introduced Bill C-36. It made life significantly more dangerous for those in the sex trade.

      The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act criminalized the sale of sex, pushing this business deeper into the shadows. It also made it illegal for sex workers to hire security staff because nobody is permitted to benefit from the sale of sexual services.

      The legislation didn't even define what constitutes a sexual service.

      In addition, Bill C-36 infringed on sex workers' constitutional right to free expression. MacKay and his Conservative cronies actually increased the legal risk of sex workers marketing services in ways that would enable them to screen clients for safety.

      “Everything he [MacKay] has said has convinced me that this can’t stand up to constitutional muster,” SFU criminologist and prostitution researcher John Lowman told the Straight last year.

      Cynics have referred to Bill C-36 as the Willie Pickton law because of its potential to make things easier for sexual predators to stalk and kill sex workers.

      It was odd that MacKay, a former Progressive Conservative leader, was the the frontman for this hideous legislation. In previous years, he came across as more reasonable than the former Reform MPs in his caucus—even as he bungled the F-35 fighter-jet file as the defence minister.

      But with this prohibitionist prostitution law, MacKay demonstrated an appalling disregard for sex workers' labour rights, not to mention their personal safety.

      It's a sad legacy to leave the country.

      Comments

      9 Comments

      james284

      May 29, 2015 at 10:02am

      Like rats fleeing the ship

      Doug Ozey

      May 29, 2015 at 10:22am

      Good riddance

      Burke Elizabeth

      May 29, 2015 at 10:26pm

      To bad rubbish, something is going on here that might free us from Harperism and that will be a very good thing for Canada

      Laz

      May 30, 2015 at 1:38am

      peter mackay,
      minister of injustice,

      the man born without a penis.

      Errr

      May 30, 2015 at 10:16pm

      I guess cannabis is sort of out of the justice portfolio now in a sense, but it is still pretty silly to talk about prostitution as his legacy, rather than his having continued drug prohibition, especially cannabis. Prostitution should be legal, but so should drugs, and the same cohort that wants prostitution to be illegal tends to also want drugs illegal---they're a large group of mostly women who like their men under-dosed and unable to buy sex. Men who had legal access to drugs and prostitutes would quickly tire of wives.

      sicntired

      May 31, 2015 at 3:28am

      It'll take decades to repair the damage done by the Harper government in just four years.Another decade for the things they did as a minority.Nothing this government has done was of benefit to any but the top 25%.In America they refer to the 10%.Canada has just been luckier due to the fact that under Paul Martin, Harper wasn't allowed to synch our banking system with America's like he wanted so badly to do.Every time Canada gets a tory government the country is devastated.Too bad that every generation we have to learn that lesson yet again.

      Peter MacKay

      Jun 1, 2015 at 1:07pm

      The modern regressive.

      DICKHD

      Jun 1, 2015 at 5:47pm

      by making pub site illegal , screening jerks is impossible . but since prostitute can now report them to police ; fines will be issued $$

      Big-Don

      Jul 9, 2015 at 3:16pm

      What a clown shoe! He pretends he's a big achiever, but he's just as unimportant as Crime Minister Harper when it comes to making a positive impact on Canadian political history. It's amazing that Injustice Minister Mackay's big accomplishments were C-36 and the F-35 screw up. Both of which, relied heavily on propaganda to be acceptable. At least C-36 will only last as long as Mackay, and Canada's church lady, Joy Smith's political careers.

      Then he killed off the PC party, not that it was going anywhere. Congratulations Peter Mackay! You depart from Canadian politics as the biggest underachieving loser, but hey! At least you have a hot wife, eh?