[DIV class=storyheadline]Foreign strippers no longer flocking to Canada
[TABLE width="100%" border=0] [TBODY] [TR] [TD colSpan=2] [/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD colSpan=2][FONT class=storybyline]James Gordon[/FONT][/TD][/TR] [TR] [TD colSpan=2][FONT class=storypub]CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen[/FONT][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE] [DIV class=storydate]
Friday, May 26, 2006[/DIV]
[DIV class=storytext][!--begin story text--] OTTAWA - The number of foreign exotic dancers flocking to Canada has dropped dramatically since the federal government scrapped a controversial visa program intended to fill a national "labour shortage.''
Citizenship and Immigration Canada documents obtained by CanWest News Service show fewer than 10 new temporary work permits were issued for strippers in 2005, down 82 per cent from the 57 handed out the year before.
Permit extensions for dancers already here also plummeted, down 84 per cent to just 60 last year from 366 in 2004.
Until recently, the federal government granted temporary work visas to nude dancers -- mostly from Eastern European countries such as Romania -- based on a lack of Canadians willing to do the job.
The policy was scrapped by the former Liberal government in December 2004, however, after critics charged it contributed to the exploitation of women and human trafficking.
The move was a blow to then-immigration minister Judy Sgro, who had defended the visa program as necessary to protect strip clubs in Canada. The policy came to light as Sgro was already engulfed in scandal over her own decision to grant a special residency permit to a nude dancer who worked on her election campaign.
She eventually stepped down.
According to a briefing book prepared for Conservative Immigration Minister Monte Solberg in February, many permits are now being rejected due to questionable job offers from potential employers.
Under the old program, the case-by-case job confirmation required of most temporary foreign workers didn't apply to exotic dancers.
"Most refusals are based on the non-bona fides of job offers and the applicant's intent (that is, the immigration officer has formed an opinion the applicant does not intend to return home upon expiry of the work permit),'' reads the document, obtained by CanWest under the Access to Information Act.
The numbers appear to suggest many permits issued under the previous policy could have been obtained under shady circumstances -- a concern given police suggestions many foreign dancers are forced into prostitution.
In warning Solberg that the issue might still draw media attention, officials pointed out the government has developed a brochure listing dancers' rights and contact numbers for support organizations in Canada.
"The leaflet will be provided at visa offices when exotic dancers are issued a temporary work permit,'' the briefing reads. "It is important to note that all temporary foreign workers, like all Canadian workers, are protected by provincial labour laws.''
Longtime critic and NDP member of Parliament Pat Martin said Thursday the government still isn't going far enough. He called for a total ban on work permits for foreign strippers, lest the government be branded a "pimp.''
"They know that these women are being forced into the underworld of pornography and prostitution and exploitation,'' Martin said in an interview. "The program should be completely scrapped.''
While the government has argued it can't discriminate against legal professions like nude dancing, Martin wasn't buying it.
"The bureaucrats that find excuses are nothing more than jellyfish,'' he said. "They really have been irresponsible.''
Martin also questioned whether dancers whose permit extension are now being rejected are actually leaving the country.
"These women ... their identifications have been torn up, they've been kept as virtual sex slaves and then they disappear altogether,'' he said. ``Ask them about the numbers of how many women they've lost, that have disappeared.''
Citizenship and Immigration Canada referred questions about the program to Human Resources and Skill Development Canada, which could not provide an official for comment Thursday afternoon.
The two departments jointly manage the entry of temporary foreign workers to Canada.
Ottawa Citizen
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