How could checking the Sun for a sex article be the wrong newspaper ?
Saturday marks the expiration date of the 60-day stay on Justice Susan Himel’s landmark court decision to strike down Ontario’s prostitution laws.
But nothing will change for the province’s sex workers this weekend, as the Court of Appeal continues to mull over an application by the Crown to extend the stay until the federal government can prepare a proper appeal.
The court’s decision won’t make the Nov. 27 deadline, but it will come “sooner rather than later,” said John Kromkamp, senior legal officer for the appeal court.
“I can’t tell you whether it will be Monday or Friday or a week Friday,” he said. “We try to get our decisions out as quickly as possible.”
The court will give a day’s notice when Rosenberg’s decision is ready.
In an appeal court hearing on Monday, all parties agreed that the struck-down laws would remain in place until Rosenberg makes a decision.
“It’s a heavy weight on a single judge,” lawyer Alan Young, who argued on behalf of sex trade workers challenging the law, said on Friday.
“No judge wants to be responsible for chaos, and that’s what’s been put on the table (by the Crown).”
Federal Crown Attorney Michael Morris argued that striking down the laws now would set off an “unprecedented” social experiment and cause “irreparable harm to the public interest.”
Young said the Crown’s claims were “vastly overstated” and “largely speculative.” He argued the motion should be rejected, the laws struck down and the appeal process expedited.
Justice Himel made the controversial decision in Ontario Superior Court on Sept. 28, ruling that prostitution laws violate sex workers' rights and endanger their lives.
If her decision is upheld, sex workers will be able to communicate freely with customers on the street, do business in homes and hire bodyguards or accountants.
