City must make move and license massage parlours

Why does Barrie have a dozen or so body-rub parlours when city bylaws ban them everywhere?

Because it's the oldest profession, that's why. And sex sells, where it's legal or not.

So what city officials should do is make the best of an inevitable situation, and attempt to regulate the massage parlours.

Not having a city zone -- commercial, industrial, etc. -- which allows body-rub parlours isn't good enough. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away, either.

The city hasn't ignored other aspects of the sex trade.

Barrie escort agencies, the escorts and drivers are all supposed to be licensed, to make sure everyone is of legal age and nobody has a criminal record.

All Barrie escort agencies aren't licensed, and neither are all the escorts. But many of them are, which is considerably better than none, which is the situation with massage parlours.

City strip clubs and the dancers are also licensed, for the same reasons as the escort industry: to make sure everything is nice and legal.

So it just makes sense to regulate and license the body-rub parlours, too.

They're not going away. If anything, there will be more as the city's population continues to grow.

Some city officials say illegal massage parlours are a police matter. Communication for the purpose of prostitution is a criminal offence.

The problem is gathering evidence when these activities go on behind closed doors. As Barrie Police Chief Wayne Frechette points out, "Nobody goes into these places kicking and screaming".

City police say arrests are uncommon on the charge of operating a common bawdy house. Charges are rarely laid, in part because the sentences handed out by our courts don't warrant the police manpower required to make arrests.

In short, it really isn't worth police time to lay charges on what's going on between consenting adults.

That's not to say police don't respond to citizen complaints about body-rub parlours. They do, just like any other complaint. And police do keep an eye on these establishments.

But massage parlours are hardly a priority with city police, as Frechette says. Police have their hands full with more serious crimes, some of them also in the sex trade.

Just this past week, for example, Barrie police arrested 15 males and charged them with communication for the purpose of prostitution. Eight suspected hookers face the same charges, as a result of a police street crime unit operation.

Frechette's position about body-rub parlours in Barrie is simple: would citizens rather have this go on in private or in outdoor, public areas?

The bottom line is if this consensual, adult exchange is going to take place regardless of the zoning and criminal laws in place, every effort should be made to regulate it so that body-run parlour employees and customers have some protection.

Make the parlour owners get an annual business license, and give them a zone in which to locate. Make their employees get annual licences, which will require proof that they are of age (19 or older) and that they are Canadian citizens.

It won't work for every massage parlour or even all of their employees. But it will work for some, and that's better than what Barrie has now.

Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending body-run parlours don't exist because they're not allowed doesn't cut it anymore.

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