Saskatoon is permissive, Regina is dismissive. The sex trade is booming in both Regina and Saskatoon, but the two cities have taken surprisingly different approaches to addressing the phenomenon. Saskatoon Police have essentially partnered with brothels and are vetting their employees for them. In Regina, city officials insist that - technically speaking - there are no massage parlours in their environs, even though the police vice squad describes it as an exploding industry.
Chris Harris. Despite the very different views and approaches to dealing with the sex trade, officials in both cities defend their policies, even though it is obvious that not everyone is on the same page, and not every policy is having its desired effect. Saskatoon's Approach. On January 1, , the relationship between massage parlours and the Saskatoon Police Service changed from adversarial to collegial. That's when the new Adult Services Licensing Bylaw came into effect, which requires massage parlours to relocate to industrial areas of the city.
He added that the officer issuing the licence takes steps to ensure no coercion is involved. From his perspective, the licensing requirement is a way to take prostitution out of the shadows and into the modern age.
You've got to get a business licence. It's the same thing. With a license, a sex trade worker can operate as an excort or work at a licensed massage parlours in Saskatoon. Brother owner loves new bylaw. Trish Fisher hires many licensed women at her business. The Lion's Den, which she candidly describes as a 'brothel" - a place where the women who work for her exchange sex for money. She said licensing is the best thing that's happened to her industry, calling it a partnership with police and the city.
Fisher especially likes how she is relieved of some background checks on workers. Police do brothel's HR work. Saskatoon Police freely admit they are doing some of The Lion's Den's human resource work. I'm not here to judge anybody. In the past, police looking to check on suspected sex trade activities could only knock on a hotel door knowing the escort was under no obligation to open it. With the licensing bylaw, officers now have a legal reason to approach women working in the sex trade.
