 | This is not a Wikipedia article: It is an individual user's rough notes page, and may be incomplete and/or unreliable. |
From 1999 to 2005 more than one thousand Romanian dancers in Canada worked under a Canadian Government program that allowed skilled workers to come to Canada to fill jobs for which there were not enough skilled Canadian citizens.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] These Romanian women were employed as exotic dancers. Some women from other nations came to Canada under this program, but the overwhelming majority of them were Romanians. In 2003 601 dancers received visas under the program -- 582 of them from Romania.
The program came to be highly criticized, with critics portraying it as exploiting women, who worked under unsafe conditions, and were exposed to undocumented sexual exploitation.[8][9][10]
The original program was officially halted in late 2004. But Romanians working as dancers continued to be the focus of controvery.[11][12] In April 2008 then Minister of Immigration Diane Finley reported receiving multiple death threats in response to her plans introduce new legislation to permanently end giving visas to exotic dancers.[13]
References
edit- ^
Mark Heinzl (1999-04-05). "Canada's Government Gets Skimpy With Work Visas for Exotic Dancers" (Document). Wall Street Journal.
Some of her supporters are livid. "There's no reason under any law" to deny Ms. Silion a visa, says Sorin Cohn, a Toronto businessman, whose business happens to be a strip club. "I'm not going to play dead over this."
{{cite document}}: Unknown parameter|archivedate=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|archiveurl=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|url=ignored (help) - ^
"Canada in stripper row over nude photos". The Age. 2004-07-29. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
The Canadian government is denying reports its visa officers are sifting through hundreds of nude photos from women hoping to enter the country to work as strippers and exotic dancers. But immigration officials admit they do require photographic evidence from applicants of their trade - and say its all done to crack down on trafficking in women.
- ^
Bill McIntosh (2004-12-13). "Exotic dancers rock a minister". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
Why Romania? Club operators say the women speak English, have a high level of education and are anxious to leave a country where average annual incomes are about £800. Though government officials say many of the dancers eventually return to Romania, 552 of the 661 who got visas in 2003 abandoned their homeland.
- ^
"Taxi Driver". The Western Standard. 2005-10-05. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
The two dead men were allowed into the country under the exotic dancer visa program. The federal Liberals had shut down that program in December last year after they realized that the Canadian embassy in Romania was not verifying the ages of girls coming to Canada. There was some evidence of corruption at the embassy, with officials there claiming they were intimidated by organized crime. Further, it seems when the women arrived in Canada they were sold into virtual sexual slavery, paid little and forced to perform sexual acts far beyond anything they were told about when they signed up.
- ^
Audrey Macklin (Summer 2003). "Dancing across borders: 'Exotic dancers,' trafficking, and Canadian immigration policy". 37 (2). The International Migration Review: 464. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
In the case of sex-trade workers, the formal stance of most states tends toward exclusion. Canada's policy distinguishes it from many other Western nations in that Canadian law proffers a temporary work permit to 'exotic dancers,' otherwise known as strippers.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^
David Usborne (2004-12-07). "'Strippergate' visa row exposes the naked truth about Canada's welcome for Romanian women". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
For years, it has run programmes to import workers for industries that simply cannot find enough Canadians to fill their jobs. And they have included - until now - the exotic dancer industry.
- ^
Tom Godfrey (2004-06-25). "Stripper shortage in Canada". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
Young Romanian women are coming to Canada by the hundreds to dance in strip clubs, which are suffering a shortage of exotic dancers, immigration statistics show. Some 582 Romanian women were among a record 880 strippers given work permits last year to table dance in Canadian girlie bars, the statistics show.
- ^ a b
"Canada Abruptly Ends Special Visas for Exotic Dancers after Inquiries into Underage Strippers". Lifesite News. 2004-12-01. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
Today in the House of Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan announced an abrupt end to the Canadian scheme of arranging visas specifically for exotic dancers, or strippers, which are used to fill positions at strip clubs in Canada. Those clubs, it has been acknowledged even by club owners, are notorious for forced back-room prostitution work.
- ^ a b
"Stripper Visa Scandal Exposes Canada's Complicity in Human Trafficking". Lifesite News. 2004-11-30. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
The current controversy over Immigration Minister Judy Sgro's alleged issuance of an exotic dancer visa to a campaign worker from Romania has led to serious concerns that Canada may be complicit in human trafficking. It has been revealed that last year alone, 601 foreign women received temporary work permits for exotic dancing; 582 of them from Romania.
- ^ a b
"Trafficking in persons report". United States Department of State. 2005-06. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-28.
The government revised its immigration policy to discontinue a blanket employment waiver (begun in 1998) that had permitted adult entertainment establishments to hire foreign women as exotic dancers — a type of program that has been abused and exploited by traffickers in many other countries. Officials acknowledge that some women may have been forced into prostitution.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
"Canada to Tighten Laws Against Sex Trafficking with Proposed Bill Blocking Stripper Visas". Lifesite News. 2007-05-18. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
Immigration Minister Diane Finley introduced a bill Wednesday that would prevent sex trade workers from entering the country on a stripper's visa.
- ^
Kevin Stell (2005-11-14). [Dancing with death: Ottawa restarts its controversial visa program for strippers– with lethal consequences "Dancing with death: Ottawa restarts its controversial visa program for strippers– with lethal consequences"]. The Western Standard. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
Carlin isn't speculating whether Kraynak and Wright were involved in a lethal situation, but says he's too familiar with the track record of Ottawa's stripper immigration policy not to be skeptical. In the past, he's lambasted the program for allowing bulk shipments of Romanian women to Canada (in 2003, 552 of 661 special visas went to women in Romania–a hotbed of human trafficking). Many were lured by promises of strip club work, but once here, he says, were forced into prostitution and pornography. Some of them were underage. "Bottom line?" Carlin says, "These men would be alive if the program hadn't been restarted."
{{cite news}}: Check|archiveurl=value (help) - ^
Terry Pedwell (2008-04-23). "Minister threatened over 'stripper law'". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
Security has been tightened around Immigration Minister Diane Finley following threats related to Conservative efforts to keep foreign strippers out of Canada. Numerous threats, of an escalating nature, have been made against the minister in recent weeks, several sources have told The Canadian Press. The exact nature of the threats was not revealed, but sources say they are directly linked to Bill C-17, the government's anti-stripper legislation. The sources hinted at an organized crime connection.
External links
edit- "Victims of Trafficking in Persons: Perspectives from the Canadian Community Sector". Department of Justice Canada. 2010-01-08. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28.
In other words, a person can be a sex worker in Romania, have a migratory trajectory where, during the transportation to Canada, may or may not have been fooled, may or may not have traveled in horrible conditions, and may or may not work in the sex industry after arriving in Canada.