More trouble brewing in Vaughan...

[Tango & Amber]

Comes to no surprise to anyone that the star article will reach public outcries in city council...

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1115675412457&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845

Makes me wonder what's on the agenda for the 25th.

edit: just fyi

 

[??krazegurl??]

I think when people who are subscribers read these stories they should post the whole text instead of a link. The same thing happened with the "Holistic Body Rub" thread... if you are not a subscriber, you cannot read them - and given how much I think the Star is a left-wing rag, I have no interest in paying them to read a story on the 'net.

 

[KAL]

My apologise, I'll keep that in mind for the future...

Waving a copy of a Toronto Star expos

 

[bluasakura]

Thanks a lot phelan.I love the line about drug-smuggling when she is talking about running R&T joints out of town. Friggin' politicians... it reminds me of Bush throwing in "Saddam Hussein" at every opportunity before he invaded Iraq 2 years ago. What the hell does drug-smuggling all of a sudden have to do with MP's?

 

[SIR]

This link worked for me, and I don't subscibe.

 

[Yamilea?]

You dont have to pay to read it online. Just fill in the required info.

 

[Worldemperor]

It's common "assumption" that prostitution related activities go hand and glove together with drugs.

 

[Jun]

Alan is probably a massageplanet.net member just waiting for this whole thing to blow over, so her can go back to sliding in peace. Keep on rockin' in the free world, Alan.

 

[Avinash kumar]

wha, wha, wha, wha...

You don't have to subscribe, just register...it's free.

 

[Pompal 09.]

They appointed a full time bylaw enforcement officer.
Toronto Star story

 

[Trenton]

QUOTE from article:

 

[realityshowjunkie]

It means Capitalism is alive and well.

 

[Patio of Fun]

It means that the press is as ignorant and ill informed as teh governments they report on.

It also means that the public who put a great deal of faith in what they read in Toronto's "respectable" paper are fed a constant stream of bullshit to varying degrees in EVERYTHING they read.

 

[Alma]

Right, so there's a serious gun problem in the GTA right now, with people getting shot almost every weekend. Of course, it's so much easier to pick a fight with a group of people who are gainfully employed, providing services for which there is a demand, that doesn't involve drugs (contrary to the inflammatory comments made by politicians and newspapers), guns, or violence.

As a society, we should be telling the politicians and police forces which crimes and offences to be fighting. I'm quite sure if most citizens were asked to choose between getting rid of the gun/drug dealers, and getting rid of MP's, they'd overwhelmingly choose the former. MP's aren't dangerous to the community, just our pocketbooks (a choice we all happily make). Anything else that's affected, ie homelife, spouse, etc., that's your own business, and no one else's. It's a choice we make to frequent MP's, and it's a choice made by MPA's to work there.

There's my rant.

 

[africbeauty69]

Well said, Bravo.

 

[stuck cook]

Here's an updated article from today's gta section of the star...

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1117059010847&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845

Vaughan targets body rub parlours
Only one charge laid last year

New officer to beef up enforcement


GAIL SWAINSON
STAFF REPORTER

Vaughan politicians are dedicating a full-time bylaw officer to closing down illegal body rub parlours, after berating staff for lax enforcement.

"Somewhere along the line we have dropped the ball and I'm very angry about this," regional Councillor Joyce Frustaglio told a working session of council yesterday.

Compared to Markham, where 50 bylaw charges were laid against bawdy houses last year, Vaughan staff laid only one such charge. By comparison, Richmond Hill enforcement staff issued 140 bylaw charges against the sex dens in 2004.

York Region police can also lay charges under the Criminal Code. There are currently 13 unlicensed and five licensed body rub parlours in Vaughan. Markham has 19, all licensed. There are 13 parlours in Richmond Hill, all unlicensed, for a total of 50 body rub establishments in southern York Region.

In Vaughan, body rub parlours are licensed as holistic health centres, giving non-therapeutic massages.

Vaughan politicians heard yesterday that body rub parlours, both legal and illegal, are typically fronts for prostitution. They also often employ minors and are a magnet for robberies, drug smugglers and organized crime, the working session heard.

Two weeks ago, Vaughan bylaw officials told council they simply didn't have enough resources to properly battle the problem.

This came after council received a letter from a now-retired senior York Region police official, sharply critical of Vaughan's failure to crack down on bawdy houses.

"The regional police have provided training to your bylaw officers and offered suggestions that other municipalities are using to effectively manage body rub parlours," said the letter from Inspector Denis Mulholland.

"Unfortunately, due either to a lack of staff or a lack of commitment, Vaughan has failed to act," the letter concluded.

The issue received more attention after a series of articles in the Star earlier this month examined the licensing of holistic health centres in Toronto.

The series revealed that about three-quarters of the establishments granted licences as alternative health treatment centres in Toronto are actually sex dens and went on to detail the problems city enforcers have in shutting down the licensed operations.

Frustaglio said several years ago, Vaughan was a leader in fighting the proliferation of illegal bawdy houses springing up across the region.

But now, the city lags far behind Richmond Hill and Markham.

"How could staff, in all good conscience, neglect this program to the degree where we were once number one and we are now last?" she asked.

Frustaglio said when Vaughan cracked down on "rub and tug" joints, council members, including herself, were threatened by owners.

But Councillor Alan Shefman questioned the need for pouring scarce resources into regulating the sex trade.

"This is the most scandalous, in a moral sense, of all the issues we have investigated," Shefman said. "But is it the most significant? Is it more significant than illegal dumps?"

The new bylaw enforcement officer will come from the city's five-person bike patrol unit. The matter goes back to council in two weeks.

 

[gregory_dittman]

My question was, ...

Can it be, that IT didn

 

[fineprnt]

I thought that IT hadn't had a license for the last two years - so no new news here. It's one way that the town is trying to limit the number of MP's - just don't renew any of the old licenses - for the establishments and the MPA's.

 

[72 mg]

One full time vs. # of part-timers. Hm, he's going to be one wanted devil.

I'm willing to go undercover as long as I leave the ticket pad at the office (ie: no charges) and make calls to MP before raids.

 

[princess]

This is just one more reason for me to keep going to strip joints. The cops and politicians are after these massage parlors big time, and the media is only happy to support them. so if we like it or not this is only going to get worse, and now they are printing the names of guys got caught getting a handjob in the Vaughn newspaper...sorry but its just not worth it. It's not worth being the laughing stock of your community for a hand job.

Thats just the way I feel about it.