City still not doing enough for escorts, paralegal says

By Collin Gallant on November 21, 2024.

A plan to reduce escort licence fees in the city doesn’t go far enough, according to a retired paralegal in Medicine Hat who prepared a Charter of Rights challenge earlier this year before the tickets were tossed on other grounds.

Ken Montgomery’s out-of-town client was fined for not having a local business licence and improperly advertising in 2023 when two undercover detectives were invited to a south-side hotel, then promptly issued a citation.

The police process in that specific case was found lacking last spring by Albert Court of Justice associate Chief Justice Sylvia Oishi.

She dismissed the case before Montgomery’s planned appeal, on the grounds that the city’s bylaw amounted to regulating an industry without authority and was otherwise discriminatory against sex workers compared to other contractors.

“I’d like a chance to address council,” Montgomery told the News this week, stating that he’s applied to the city for time when the bylaw amendments return to council on Dec. 2.

In court last winter, Montgomery argued that the definitions in the bylaw were vague and could be misapplied.

Prostitution is no longer a criminal offence in Canada, though buying sexual services or otherwise benefiting from avails of prostitution, such as a pimp would, is still illegal.

In that way, Montgomery argued, persons who sell sex are better off financially calling themselves prostitutes to avoid higher priced licensing requirements, or be treated by city licensing like plumbers or hairdressers.

“If they’re not sex workers, what’s the concern,” he said this week. “If they sell sex, it’s legal and the city can’t regulate it.”

Court testimony heard that the major crimes unit handles enforcement of the bylaw, not the bylaw unit, while background checks are also completed by police personnel.

It is the only business licensing matter dealt with by regular officers.

The city has had an escort bylaw in place since the early 1980s, and it last updated the legislation in 2003.

Council had requested staff examine and suggest updates in late 2022, but the changes have apparently been on hold while Montgomery’s cases wound through the courts.

Those changes were introduced at a committee meeting last month, but were tabled at council meeting when Coun. Andy McGrogan said he wanted to hear Montgomery’s argument.

Other councillors objected to a public hearing on the subject stating it was too narrow a topic, but discussed having the city solicitor’s office prepare an analysis.

City lawyers acting as prosecutors during the trial stated their view is the city has the authority under provincial legislation to develop and enforce an escort bylaw. Escorts are subject to licensing requirements in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Lethbridge, though only Medicine Hat and Calgary require individual contractors to be licensed.

Montgomery argues the matter comes down to the definition of what is an “escort.”

The city’s bylaw doesn’t specifically mention “sex,” only that an escort is “an individual who charges or receives a fee or any other compensation for acting as a date or providing personal companionship for a limited period of time.”

The proposed amendment adds an exception for “a person providing assistance to another person because of that other person’s age or ability.”

That refers to services that provide companionship or wellness check-ins for elderly clients.

Other proposed changes would remove the need to maintain client information and also delete the need for operators to submit monthly reports listing interactions – two requirements that are largely not being met in current practice.

A new fee schedule would also cut fees by more than half for escort agencies, from $5,000 to $1,800 for residents and $2,400 for non-resident owners.

Individual escort licences would drop from about $350 to either $125 or $180 based on residency – about the cost of a typical business licence.

Police and city staff officials told a council committee in October that discussions with local escort agencies found the new fees were agreeable and should be set somewhat higher to discourage casual entrants from taking up the trade.

Court testimony heard that major crimes unit handles enforcement of the bylaw, not the bylaw unit.