REGINA -- Regina City Council will hear from 19 delegations regarding the licensing of body rub establishments on Wednesday afternoon.
The special meeting follows a close vote at Executive Committee earlier this month, where members voted 5-4 in favour of moving forward with the program that would see the parlours licensed to operate in heavy and light industrial zones.
The plan aims to enhance safety and limit criminal activity in the facilities and would require the parlours to pay $1,200 annually for the license. This process would likely include criminal record checks and would require workers to attend education sessions to learn about safety, sexual health and ways to identify human trafficking.
Council members voted to license the workers, a controversial change critics say could push workers onto the street, while its backers say it will help protect the workers.
There are privacy concerns, that the workers’ names would not be protected if individual licensing goes forward.
Some delegations at Wednesday’s meeting are against licensing the establishments in any way, including one from an organization called the Stolen Sisters and Brothers Movement, who is set to share her experience working in a body rub establishment.
