Let's Not Shoot Down One Of Few Good Ideas From City Council

Mammoliti might have come up with a sensible idea.....this area could be on the portion of the islands where the Toronto Airport is located and this could be segregated from the rest of the island. It might be necessary to build a bridge but with a little bit of thought and planning, divorced of any City Of Toronto involvement, we could end up with Las Vegas North.

Councillor suggests creative land use
Massage Parlour Isle
Kelly Patrick
National Post, with files from Katie Rook
Wednesday, May 09, 2007

A Toronto councillor is floating a plan to corral the city's illicit massage parlours in a single area --and he is suggesting sleepy Toronto Island as a potential home for the red light district.
"The island isn't exempt," said Giorgio Mammoliti, the councillor for Ward 7 York West. "We should be looking at all areas of the city that are away from residential areas."
Mr. Mammoliti said he would like city staff to study the experience of Amsterdam and other cities that have opted to legalize prostitution and restrict it to specific areas.
Then, with report in hand, he and his council colleagues could begin scoping out a suitable nonresidential pocket of town for a red light district.
"I think I'm the only councillor that has the courage to talk about it," he said.
Mr. Mammoliti refused to suggest by name any parts of the city besides Toronto Island as candidates for a massage parlour zone.
He pointed out that Toronto Island is already home to a clothing- optional beach -- something he once protested by doffing his shirt in council chambers -- and might also be a good spot for the city casino he supports.
"Traditionally," he said, "if you want to create a red light district you'd probably have a little gambling and some bar scene, and you'd probably have some areas that would cater to those that would want a legal form of prostitution."
Although the city has no power to change the Criminal Code provisions against selling sex publicly and operating bawdy houses, Mr. Mammoliti believes Toronto could create a red light district by refusing municipal licences to massage parlours outside a designated area.
The issue was first raised on a morning radio talk show yesterday.
Mr. Mammoliti later confirmed to the Post the island could be considered as a centre for adult entertainment.
Mayor David Miller dismissed the scheme.
"First of all, members of council say almost anything from time to time. I have got a lot of respect for Councillor Mammoliti, but I don't agree with this idea," he said.
"You take one neighbourhood and turn it into a red light district and that no longer becomes a neighbourhood that's livable for everyone.
"You go to the Toronto island, that's where most families in Toronto take their kids in the summer. Personally, as a dad, I wouldn't want to be taking my kids to a place that is a red light district full of brothels."
Island residents yesterday met Mr. Mammoliti's suggestion with gasps and laughs. Eva Beyerle- Rutherford has lived on the island for 40 years and said a red light district is implausible.
"We don't have any hotels here. I don't understand where the women would ply their trade, where the professionals would ply their trade," she said.
"I don't think I could seriously consider Mammoliti's suggestion that there be a red light district on the island, I think it is beneath consideration.
"It's a public park. If the island is a public park and they want to have a red light district, why can't they have a red light district in High Park?" she said, while noting there aren't any hotels there either.
According to the Toronto Island Community's Web site, more than 600 people, 200 of them children, live in 262 homes on the island.
Mr. Mammoliti, who made headlines last week for requesting an investigation into two councillors he said spent too little of their office budgets, said he has been trying to get geographical restrictions on massage parlour on to the city's agenda for more than three years.
The issue at least deserves to be studied, he said.
Mr. Mammoliti stressed his target is massage parlour workers and operators, not street prostitutes.
He said most women selling sex on the street are drug addicts who need help.
"Those [prostitutes] that aren't addicted to drugs and still want to continue with it are hidden behind doors and they call themselves massage parlours," he said.
© National Post 2007