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Letters To The Editor News

Letters To The Editor: Week Of December 25

Prostitution illogic

Under the new prostitution law (NOW, December 11-17) you may sell sex but you may not buy sex. 

You may be a prostitute, but you may not be the client of a prostitute. What prostitute is going to be safe? Is there a more ludicrous and unconstitutional law?

Ken Arnott

Toronto


HarperCons’ sex stance imbalance

Further to the Bill C-36 article by Alice Klein (NOW, December 11-17). Prostitution is a trade (the oldest one, for that matter) just like teaching, law, sales, nursing or house cleaning, in which people are paid for services offered. 

To single out and criminalize prostitution instead of providing protection for women involved in the trade shows unbalanced reasoning on the part of the government. 

NOW should be commended for standing up for the rights of sex trade workers.

Rudolf Manook

Toronto


Selling sex work short

Letter-writer Katherine Burger asks, “Why should someone have to sell themselves to afford to live freely in our society?” (NOW, December 18-24).

She asserts that women “should not have… to eke out an existence in a dark, dangerous work environment.”

The sex ads in NOW are placed voluntarily. The advertisers are not selling themselves, merely renting themselves, which is something all employees do. 

I have done a lot of office work that was horribly tedious, but I accepted the tedium because I needed the income. Most people make compromises of that sort. Sex work has advantages and disadvantages. I’m sure at least some clients are actually enjoyable as sex partners. 

As for the dark and dangerous environment, a stronger case could be made for banning coal mining than for banning sex work. 

David Palter

Toronto


Sex trade tirade

I watched your CEO, Alice Klein, on CBC being interviewed about your stance on the sex trade (NOW, December 7). 

I can’t believe how she came across. You are paying her too much. Duh.

Fran Sullivan

Toronto


Singling out Giorgio Mammoliti?

Re Legal Experts Not Surprised Mammoliti Kept His Job (NOW, December 15). Funny how Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler and Fair Elections Toronto only go after right-of-centre councillors. There’s no fairness there.

Jack Dakasic

From nowtoronto.com


Blame voters for council’s minority deficit

I agree that immigrants are unfairly under-represented in politics in general (NOW, November 27-December 3), but you have to put much of the blame on voters. After all, the immigrants who all drive cars out in the burbs voted for Ford.

They had an amazing candidate in Olivia Chow, who is a visible minority, who is not rich, supported projects that help newcomers and can actually relate to them. But they chose cars over her. Do voters ever learn?

Scotty Robinson

Toronto


Discrimination questions

What more glaring example of white privilege is there than a journalist telling people of colour what their problems are and how to solve them? In online photos, NOW’s editorial staff look like the British Colonial Board of India circa 1939.

Where city council is hitting 11 to 13 per cent people of colour, NOW’s editorial staff seems to be hitting 0.5 per cent. But NOW does boast 59 per cent women. The percentage of homosexuals is unknown. 

Why are any of these legitimate points of contention? Aren’t colour, gender and sexual orientation illegal points of discrimination? If it’s illegal to discriminate against them, how can it then be legal, okay or even acceptable to discriminate in favour of them?

Conrad Hall

Toronto


Xmas chaos on the TTC

I set out an hour early to excitedly meet friends at a Christmas concert. The subway took us one stop and told us we all had to get off and jump on a shuttle bus, which barely moved in the 20 minutes we were on it. I had to get off and walk back home. No Christmas concert for me, and I’m sure many people taking the TTC didn’t make their events either. 

I moved to Toronto because it has a subway system and I used to brag about it. Now all I have to say is fuck you! 

We work hard all week and make plans on our short weekends so we can have some work-life balance. I feel staying at home on weekends is a better bet so I don’t have to deal with the unreliable TTC chaos, but I don’t want to become a hateful hermit! 

I hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel so Torontonians can get to enjoy the city’s offerings. At the moment, you suck! Merry fucking Christmas!

Genevieve MacKenzie

Toronto


Self-defence against dangerous men

I doubt much will change in the wake of the Ghomeshi affair (NOW, November 13-19). What makes him special is his visibility, but there are many more dangerous men out there. 

And like winter storms and car accidents, these motherfuckers will always be with us. We may get some political hand-wringing and a few new regulations, but the root causes (fucked-up upbringing, evil DNA) are as perennial as the grass. 

I am the father of two beautiful young women and hope they make the right choices when they partner up. I, of course, will be nowhere nearby when those decisions are made and will not be able to protect them. 

My 16-year-old took a women’s self-defence course. She learned face-scratching and testicle-whacking but also got a few tips on how to not be caught in those situations in the first place. 

Be careful, girls.

Martin Aucoin

Toronto


NOW welcomes reader mail. Address letters to: NOW, Letters to the Editor, 189 Church, Toronto, ON M5B 1Y7. Send e-mail to letters@nowtoronto.com and faxes to 416-364-1166. All correspondence must include your name, address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length.

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