Post 131—Prostitution: Further Ruminations

Rehabbing Prostitute Culture               

So the City Fathers of Vancouver decided the reputation of former West End (WE) prostitutes needed to be rehabbed. (See Post 130.) Did they consult with us WE residents at all? They may have, but I certainly never heard of such an event, while I usually try to keep on top of such happenings. Such consultations are usually well advertised far ahead of time. I must admit, of course, that I do travel a lot and thus might miss some of these occasions.

Lack of Citizen Involvement

But were there any cries from the current residents that a former injustice had to be undone?  Was the city under local pressure on this matter?  Even if I missed out on whatever public consultations might have taken place, I have noticed nothing of public pressure to restore the honour of prostitutes, let alone thank them for their historic contribution to advancing our “progressive” WE culture. I am sociable; I spend time on the street; I drink tea on the new plaza in front of our building. I heard no such discussion of any kind. It seems the City Fathers just quietly slipped this one over us, possibly alerting some citizen groups they would expect to support such a move, but almost definitely no general public consultation. Though St. Paul’s Anglican Church participated in and approved of the action, I doubt that other area churches such as my church, the large Baptist “cathedral” at Burrard and Nelson, was consulted, or the Guardian Angel Catholic Church on Broughton. Possibly St. Andrews United, for they could be expected to support the move and, perhaps, the Presbyterians.

Citizen Reactions

As could be expected, citizen reactions ran the full gamut from warm embrace to vigorous rejection. One Derek Frew wrote that he initially thought it a case of “blasphemy” that “involved…placing a monument to paganism in front of a Christian church.” But then he had second thoughts urged on him by words attributed to the famous writer G. K. Chesterton: “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.” Frew concluded that “perhaps not a bad place for it after all” ! (Vancouver Sun, Sept 20, 2016, p. A11).  If nothing else, his has at least a humorous touch to it.

The Earlier Part of the Story

From the other side of the opinion track, we get Ray McNabb’s piece on the same VS page under the title “Memorial to sex workers a wrong-headed affront.”  He’s lived in the WE for 40 years and has always found it “a wonderful area to live in. However, I vividly recall a time when it wasn’t.” That time was the early 1970s when there was so much traffic that he could hardly get onto the street. There was a constant lot of “noise, car horns, car radios booming, shouting, swearing from the traffic. The cars were all headed for Davie Street, where the prostitutes all gathered. Bumper to bumper stuff. Some WE-enders organized a “Shame the Johns” movement. “We were upset and annoyed with the lack of action by the police and city hall….”  A pressure group of citizens, including some politicians, finally was heard and the “court ordered the…hookers out of the WE.”  Traffic was forced away from the regular tours by a mini-park on Jervis and a cul-de-sac at Bute & Burnaby, right in front of my building here. The neighbourhood slowly “returned to normal.”

Then and Now

So, that time there was public pressure on the authorities to stop the sex trade in the WE.  The residents did not want it. It ruined their lives and turned the area into a noisy and chaotic place. Davie village became so infamous that even in Africa, where I lived at the time, I heard about it, just like today the place is world famous for its gay-friendly culture so that gay people from all over the world gather in the WE to participate in the annual week-long activities that culminate in the huge local gay parade. But notice the difference:  infamous vs famous. At that time it was the laughing stock of the province, nation and even world! 

An Affront

And now, McNabb rightly complains that city Counselor Andrea Reimer, judging from the name, a descendant of that morally pristine Mennonite community, refers to the citizens’ action in the 70s as “a tragic injustice.”  Oh, yeah? How about opening up space for that crowd on her street and see if she would still feel that way! Her neighbours would likely drive her out with the rest of the crowd to follow!  If not worse!  “What an affront!” comments McNabb. “She lost my vote”—and mine as well. I am coming close to dubbing her an “idiot!”  Again, something like calling a spade a spade.

The Next Post

I hope to have the time to prepare for the next post to deal with the more overtly Christian perspective on the issue. You will learn that I do not see it all in black and white terms. My prostitute story in Post 130 is illustrative of the tragic circumstances that can drive a person into prostitution. I am far from judging an individual prostitute, but that is very different from elevating the culture of prostitution to the level of desirability to which more communities should aspire.     

Post 64--Competition between Government and Tax-paying Citizens

  

I had a few other subjects in mind for the next posts, but the issue of competition between Canadian governments and their citizens popped up again, unannounced and unexpectedly. The last post, you may remember, dealt with competition between the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a so-called “crown corporation” with special ties to the Federal Government (FG), and private broadcasters. The CBC receives hefty subsidies from the FG but also advertises like any other medium house, often against their private competitors who support them through their taxes. I have expressed my deep displeasure with that arrangement. 

Today this same topic intrudes again as I read yesterday’s VS today. This time the issue is between BC Government Liquor Stores (GLS) and private wine stores. Please understand, I am hardly a wine bibber and so this does not personally apply much to me, except that every individual in any given jurisdiction is affected when major economic shifts occur. There is always a ripple effect. Furthermore, sometimes I wonder whether we all would not be better off without all that alcohol stuff, given the misery and suffering it creates form day to day. Yes, I do take a drink very sporadically and sometimes actually enjoy it, but wines, hardly.

A major shift has occurred in the alcohol world of BC. Whereas formerly, liquor was sold only in GLS-es and bars, with the exception of wine that was also for sale in private wine outlets, recently, the gates have been opened with the result that liquor is now available in all kinds of places. That spells serious competition for the wine sellers, but it’s private vs private. That’s the nature of our economy. Not a problem to me, though such major adjustments spell serious challenges to which those sellers have to adjust. Again, that’s our economy for you. Change is as common as stability. You have to learn to cope. It’s the name of the game. Nothing guaranteed.               

The problem is that the GLS has increased its business hours to include Sundays and statutory holidays.  Patrick Greenfield, owner of a wine store complains that his Sunday sales are down considerably. On Good Friday 2015 they were down by 40% for him. Another owner, John Clerides, said his Sunday sales have fallen 15-20 percent since FGS opened Sundays. Greenfield complained, “It’s hard to compete with the government, which seems to have a ‘bottomless chequebook,’ noting the millions of dollars being spent to add refrigeration facilities to government stores.”  He continues, “It’s hard when the government is (both) your competitor and your supplier,” without even talking of its control over legal power. It’s not a “level playing field,” for GLS doesn’t “face the same consequences.” For one thing, not every store needs to show a profit, for it can be carried by the entire network. 

Clerides has applied to the Government—the very department that makes the rules and from which he gets his supplies—for “the right to sell beer and spirits in his store so he can better compete against government stores,”but that request was turned down.  It has, he surmises, “obviously” fallen on deaf ears. Why is that not surprising?

You see the mess such an arrangement creates?  Someone please explain to me why the Government is into liquor sales. Has anyone ever defined the role of a government, especially in a “free” Western society? I checked the internet about the history of this mess, but perhaps lacked the patience to pursue it long enough, for I did not find any reference to this history. If it were important enough to me, I might even go to the Public Library for literature on the subject. As it is, I am left guessing. One of my guesses is that it is one of these brilliant NDP achievements with its union friends blocking any move towards a freer market.  Well, yes, they have a good thing going for themselves, what with government salary and job security as good as guaranteed. I am almost jealous! 

But what of its citizen tax payers?  It is unconscionable that these entrepreneurs are forced to purchase their supplies from their competitor, who has virtually unlimited power over the market and part of whose income comes from those very taxes. No government should be allowed to compete with its citizens and no citizen should be saddled with such a competitor-master. I am not anti-government and certainly not anarchist. I'm just a plain old conservative with a Christian twist. Note the small "C," though I am also (still) a large "C-er."

The same argument can also be applied to private schools vs public schools, but that’s a much more complicated issue that I’ve touched upon before and, no doubt, will again in the future. 

I think I will visit my neighbourhood wine store and buy a bottle just to show my support. It would be the first time in my life, not of buying wine but of buying in a private wine shop. 

[With thanks to Bruce Constantineau for his VS article “More choice is a bad thing for private liquor stores” (Aug 15, 2015).]