Wanted: More Strippers in Canada
The Canadian government has their panties in a bunch this week with the knowledge that they have neglected to do anything to change their image for allowing the easy-import of foreign strippers:
Canada’s welcome mat is still rolled out for foreign strippers and lap dancers who can get quick visas to fill a domestic “labour shortage.”
Last December, the Liberal government announced it was cancelling a controversial program that allowed exotic dancers to gain temporary work permits based on a national labour market opinion.
But it was quietly replaced by a process that permits strip club owners to bring in foreign dancers just by filling out the proper paper work.
How clever.
The question here is: who cares? Do I care if we allow foreigners to come to Canada to work as strippers? No. Do I care that the girl I get a lap dance from doesn’t speak both of the official languages of Canada? No. Do I feel like these foreign strippers are taking away the jobs of other Canadians? No.
Well, leave it to our neighbor from the south to heat things up a bit:
Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department released a study that condemned Canada’s stripper visa for allowing clubs to hire foreign women who could face abuse and exploitation.
Ooohhh… I’m shaking in my 6-inch heel pleather boots… the visa was condemned!
The only thing I find troubling about the easy-access stripper visa is the fact that it may facilitate sex trafficking. As I’ve said before, countries should make efforts to ensure the safety of their sex workers and make sure that people are involved in sex work by their own free will. So, does this simplified procedure contribute to the ease of trafficking sex workers?
I would like to hear more detailed explanations on this procedure from the government. If the Canadian government is taking effective steps to prevent sex trafficking then I can live with this simple form… I’d rather strippers immigrate to Canada than religious fundamentalists!
November 3rd, 2005 at 8:58 am
Here’s a thought… if you go ahead and try to contact the government for answers, you think someone might accept an invitation to say these things on camera for a future podcast?
Your podcasts are informative and done in very good taste, so I think that this might be a possibility.
November 3rd, 2005 at 9:23 am
I would love to know where exactly this stripper shortage is. In Quebec the dance clubs have more dancers than they need and it causes issues. In the outlying areas women are contracted in from Montreal. Can they not do that at these clubs?
Also, what is the benefit for the club owners to have the visa gals from other countires rather than gals already in Canada? Hmmmmm.