MPs need to tackle the prostitution issue

An Ontario judge had no business striking down three major anti-prostitution laws in the Criminal Code on Tuesday. “There has been a long-standing debate in this country and elsewhere about the subject of prostitution,” writes Madam Justice Susan Himel of the Ontario Superior Court, but it is, apparently, over. Who is she to weigh all the potential harms at stake and decide matters, on either side? Who says she can do a better job than Parliament?

Canada should be prepared to liberalize its laws on prostitution, and to take into account the safety of the women (and some men) involved. But that is a job for elected legislators, not a judge.

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This is a Globe and Mail editorial. Tom