e-3132 Justice
Randall Garrison
Bedford v. Canada,Civil and human rights,Prostitution and prostitutes,Protection of Communities and Exploited ...
March 30, 2021, at 1:20 p.m. (EDT)
Petition to the Government of Canada
  Whereas:
  
    The Supreme Court of Canada (Bedford v. Canada, 2013) found laws that violated sex workers’ Section 7 rights to "security of person" to be unconstitutional;
    Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, passed in November 2014, denies sex workers of their Section 7 rights to "security of person" in a roundabout way by criminalizing the purchase of sexual services for the first time in Canadian history;
    Bill C-36 puts our most marginalized members of society at risk of being beaten, raped and killed because criminalization hinders their ability to seek assistance from law enforcement and puts barriers to accessing health, safety and other benefits available to workers;
    Bill C-36 hinders workers' rights to negotiate the terms of employment;
    Amnesty International has called for decriminalization of consensual sex work, including laws that prohibit associated activities, based on evidence that these laws make sex workers less safe and provide impunity for abusers because sex workers are often too scared of being penalized to report crime to police; and
    Amnesty International has stated that laws on sex work should focus on protecting people from exploitation and abuse, rather than trying to ban all sex work and penalize sex workers
  
  
    We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to repeal Bill C-36 to ensure all Canadians, regardless of their chosen profession, are not denied their constitutional right to security of person.