2 THE DAILY VOICE, THURSDAY, APRIL 4 2013 EDITOR STEVEN CHUA ews & features Sex workers seek audience with judge The Pivot Legal Society wants local prostitutes to be heard at Supreme Court hearing By JES CUNNINGHAM law firm that serves the Down- town Eastside wants to get the stories of sex workers in their community heard. The Pivot Legal Society announced Wednesday that they are requesting that the Supreme Court grant audience to sex-trade workers from the DTES during its hearing of the Terri-Jean Bedford case. The firm says that because prostitu- tion is so prevalent in that community, people from the area deserve to be part of the hearing The Bedford case is a legal challenge to Canada’s prostitution laws that ban sex workers from soliciting clients in public and operating brothels among other restrictions. Several rules — but not all — were deemed a deemed as violations of the Chart of Rights by the Court of Appeal for Ontario. The case is now before the Supreme Court of Canada, which will begin hear- ings on June 12. Among the most contended laws is 213, the solicitation and communica- tion law, which forces sex-workers to hastily choose their clients, instead of safely evaluating the situation, accord- ing to critics. “[213 forces] sex workers into the margins of society,” said Kerry Porth, Pivot Board Member and former execu- tive director of PACE Society. “It causes them to make hasty decisions, such as jumping into their clients’ cars before ground rules are established, thus sac- rificing their safety along with their control over the situation.” “Sex work doesn’t have to be danger- ous,” said Megan Lewis, night outreach worker at PEERS, Victoria. “Selling sex is perfectly legal. It’s the laws that prohibit it to be done safely,” Porth said. Pivot’s message is that criminalizing sex workers creates a poor relationship with the police because sex workers are then too afraid to approach them in fear of being penalized if something bad, such as physical abuse, occurs. “As police officers we have the abili- ty to enforce those laws and in many cases have the ability to use discretion when enforcing the law, but have no control over the law itself,” said Const. Brian Montague, VPD media liaison. “We will also wait for the outcome of the June 12 court case on the constitu- tionality of Canada’s current prostitu- tion laws.” Porth hopes by changing of the sex- trade laws, Vancouver will become a role model for surrounding communi- ties such as Burnaby and Surrey. “Pri- oritize human life over property value and nuisance issues,” said Porth. APPEAL the LAW THE BEDFORD CASE challenged lawes that place restrictions on sex workers. SEVERAL LAWS but not all were considered violations of the Charter of Rights SUPREME COURT will be hearing the case in June Surrey needs to connect: Mayor “Connecting” the rhe- torical phrase of the day in State of the City address By HAILEY McDONALD annual State of the City address yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel where Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts spoke to a packed room. Slogans reading “connecting com- munities, connecting people,” were plastered on signs scattered through- out the building while Watts explained that Surrey is the fastest-growing city in the Lower Mainland and needs inno- vative solutions to address issues caused by its increasing population. “We know that our economy is grow- ing, jobs are being created and our city is evolving, but we can’t stop there,” she said. “We have to continue to evolve. We have to plan for the future and we have to create opportunities for our residents,” she said. She said that the city is developing strategies in four sectors for economic growth: the aerospace industry, arts and culture, sport tourism and health technology. She said that these areas are also crucial to connecting to the rest of the Lower Mainland. Watts also mentioned some of the changes that Surrey residents should soon expect including Innovation Bou- levard that runs from Surrey Memorial Hospital to the city’s Simon Fraser Uni- versity campus and include 180 health- businesses. “Innovation Boulevard will connect the dots and build a world-class centre that will enhance patient care and pro- pel economic growth in our city,” Watts said in a press-release handed out at the event. Watts mentioned that Surrey may be struggling to keep up with its growing population because of its lack of a sig- nificant transit system, compared to others like Vancouver’s. “The consequences of not having a rapid transit infrastructure are signifi- cant,” she said. “We must plan for fu- ture economic growth and if not we will see the repercussions.” She said that 50 per cent of the Lower Mainland’s post-secondary students live in Surrey. was the theme at the Langara’s local MLA marks job centre anniversary Moira Stilwell paid a visit to the WorkBC centre on Hastings Street as it celebrated a year of operation 66 The em- ployment service centres are a fairly new vi- sion. TOM BURNELL By JES CUNNINGHAM was at the WorkBC centre on West Hastings Street to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the facili- ty’s opening. “Your success and what youre cele- brating today speaks to everyone [at this celebration],” Moira Stilwell said as she cut a cake laden with icing and slices of fruit. The Hastings facility is one of 73 WorkBC centres scattered throughout T:: MLA for Vancouver-Langara the province that offer work placement services to people seeking jobs. Each building is operated by a differ- ent contractor. WorkBC on Hastings is run by the Open Door Group. The non-profit orga- nization serves as an employment placement organization for jobseekers. When Stilwell wasn’t carving up pas- tries, the BC Liberal party member was examining the array of cake pops that lined the tables beside. During the course of her 15-minute visit to the establishment, she made ev- ery attempt to gather attention to the province's job initiatives. “In the past year, employment B.C. centres ... have seen a total of 88,000 British Columbians, who are looking to improve their life [and] find work,” said Stilwell to the crowd of 40 gathered at the occasion. “Over 50 per cent found jobs.” Tom Burnell, the CEO of Open Door Group also had a few words on how the progress of the facility. “The employment service centres are a fairly new vision,” Burnell said. =~ Ke y S i ‘a JES CUNNINGHAM photo Langara MLA Moira Stilwell paid the WorkBC centre in Hastings Street a visit on Wednesday to comemorate its first year of operation.