Conservative Minister Facing Gang Death Threats Thanks to Liberal Permissiveness with Strip Clubs
“It’s not every country that climbs into bed with organized crime as a human resource partner”
OTTAWA, April 24, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Minister in the Conservative Government of Canada is being threatened because of the government’s proposed legislation to prevent sexual exploitation and trafficking of foreign workers via exotic dancer visas. Unnamed government sources told the Globe and Mail newspaper that Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley has been personally threatened by gangs that profit from strip clubs to the extent that she now requires increased security.
The news comes as no surprise to activists against human trafficking who were disgusted by the permissive policy adopted by the former Liberal Government on the question. Gregory Carlin, with the Irish Anti-trafficking Coalition, lobbied the Liberals vigorously to bring an end to the exploitive visa program. He warned Canadian officials in the 2004 that Romanian women who had come to Canada under the exotic dancer visa scheme “complain of being coerced into prostitution in Canada by club-owners and lied to by Canadian officials.”
Carlin said in a phone interview with LifeSiteNews.com that former Liberal immigration Ministers Judy Sgro, Joe Volpe and former Liberal prime Minister Paul Martin “are to blame” for Minister Finley’s current predicament. Carlin praised the Conservative initiative and reiterated his previous damning indictment of the Liberal Government given in 2004, “It’s not every country that climbs into bed with organized crime as a human resource partner.”
Carlin was not surprised by the threats from gang members against Minister Finley. “One can hardly be surprised that when one is taking the bone from the dog, the dog is barking,” he said. “The Minister is now paying the price for the malfeasance of the work-permit immigration criteria by the previous administration.”
After a scandal involving the Liberals’ approval of a stripper visa, the program was curtailed. However, during gay pride week when a male strip club applied for a special exemption, Carlin warned the Liberals not to give in. The government paid no heed and two young male strippers who came from the US – Mark Kraynak, 23, and Steve Wright, 20 – wound up missing and found dead in a ravine in Quebec.
When she introduced Bill C-17, last year, Finley described it as an attempt to “protect vulnerable foreign workers, ones that could easily be exposed to sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse.” She explained, “The previous Liberal government gave blanket exemptions to foreign strippers to work in Canada. (This was) despite warnings that they were vulnerable to forced prostitution and other exploitation.”
Carlin concluded, “Nothing good will ever come from promoting the sex trade via government policy.”