A group that includes church representatives is opposing a proposal to open a strip club in Regina.
The group plans to address city council at Monday night’s meeting when it considers an application to open the club in the former Whiskey Saloon location at 1047 Park Street.
“A strip club can certainly not be described as a loving environment, it’s a using environment. So certainly, on moral and faith grounds, we are definitely opposed” said Charles Kooger, chairman of the Regina Evangelical Ministerial Association and Regina Council of Churches, which together represent more than 100 churches in the city.
Saskatchewan is one of the last provinces to legalize stripping. Darlene Juschka, a professor of women's studies at the University of Regina, says the province has a unique attitude
“It seems that there’s some concern here in Saskatchewan; you don’t find it in a lot of other places,” she said. “It may well be historical.”
Juschka said she’s more concerned about the safety of dancers than she is about potential moral effects.
“If (the dancers) are coming home late at night, are they going to be OK?” Juschka asked. “I worry about that part less so than I worry about the morality and the drop in morality in Regina.”
The group opposing the proposed strip club is also calling on the Saskatchewan government to rescind the law that made it possible. However, the province says the new rules are still among the most restrictive in the country with respect to the degree of nudity permitted, and the legislation will stand.
Based on a report by CTV Regina’s Wayne Mantyka
