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Ontario refuses to list jobs for strippers
Read the article / show / issue that provoked me to write a letter and my response below that or go straight to my response
Date Posted on this Site
October 18, 2010
Publication
National Post
Publication Date
October 15, 2010
Published Content
Linda Nguyen
The Ontario government is refusing to add job postings for strippers, escorts and chatline agents to its provincial job-bank website.
The provincial government was reacting yesterday to proposed instructions from the federal government that such jobs be posted.
"I do not believe provincial government employees should counsel clients to train for a job as an escort or table dancer, nor do I see it as the government's role to assist in recruiting staff for strip clubs and escort services," wrote John Milloy, Ontario's Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, in a letter to federal Human Resources Minister Diane Finley.
"Please accept this as official notification that Ontario will not comply with any directive of this nature."
Mr. Milloy became aware of the "draft note" only this week and said he was not only "surprised, but deeply concerned."
The document was sent to all provincial governments on Oct. 1 as part of a policy review on job-bank websites by Human Resources and Skills Development in Ottawa. The job-bank website is a federal initiative that works in partnership with the provinces. Each province is responsible for job postings in its region.
In the bulletin, the federal department says all job postings must "continue to reflect the social values and ethical practices shared by the Federal Government, its provincial and territorial partners, as well as Canadian society as a whole."
As a result, according to the bulletin, the job-bank website should now include listings for nine new occupations, including exotic dancers, erotic dancers, nude dancers, escorts and chatline agents.
These positions have been prohibited from the provincial website since 2003 because they were "sexually offensive," according to that bulletin.
"I'll be very frank here, if a directive of this nature is here, we will not be posting jobs for strippers and escorts. We don't feel it's an appropriate use of taxpayers' money," Mr. Milloy said. "The federal government has the final say, but if they don't like it, they can sue me."
The Minister said he has yet to receive an official response from the federal government.
Meanwhile, Ms. Finley's spokesman Ryan Sparrow denied the instructions came from her office.
"[The draft note] has not been seen by the Minister's office, nor would it ever have been a policy under consideration by our government," he wrote in an email.
He insisted the draft memo was prepared by low-level bureaucrats, never got near the director general of the department, let alone the Minister, and was never considered as government policy.
"Obviously, we disagree with the memo. It has no legitimacy whatsoever."
My Response Letter
Kudos to Minister Milloy for refusing to assist the federal government in recruiting strippers and call girls. Now the next logical step for those as "deeply concerned" as the Minister and the province would be revoking the legal status of strip clubs and escort services operating in Ontario. (An initiative that I and many, many other Ontarians would wholeheartedly support.)
Jason Gennaro
Was my response published?
Yes. Download an image of the published letter - slightly edited