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Toronto – from www.vancouversun.com – — The federal government is not legally obligated to decriminalize Canada’s sex trade for the safety of prostitutes because the industry is not a constitutional right, Ontario’s top court heard Monday.

“The practice of prostitution is an economic activity, not a constitutional right,” federal lawyer Michael Morris told a five-justice panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal in the opening day of the landmark appeal.

The government argues sex workers should not have an expectation to security of a person because they are engaging in an illegal activity that puts them at risk to violence from pimps and johns.

Although prostitution is legal in Canada, activities associated with it are not. Morris said that these laws need to stay put because they are meant to act as a deterrent for people to become involved in the industry.

Whether prostitution is declared a right is a discussion that should be left for Parliament and is not for the courts to decide, he argued.

More than 20 women’s, civil liberties and sex workers’ groups are involved in the week long appeal, resulting from a decision last year by Ontario Superior Justice Susan Himel which essentially struck down three prostitution laws.

Himel ruled that the laws banning operating or working in a brothel, communicating for the purpose of prostitution and living off the avails of prostitution put women at risk because they force prostitutes to ply their trade underground.

Morris also argued that Himel made a “fundamental error” in her finding because she didn’t consider that the government is not an “active participant” in the violence against sex workers.

“The law does not authorize violence against prostitutes,” he said. “. . . (Sex work) is a violent world.”

The constitutional issue was first brought before the court by Toronto dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford speaking into the mike] and two sex workers, Valerie Scott and Nikki Thomas, who also represent the group Sex Workers of Canada.

The federal government was expected to continue their arguments Monday. The provincial government, who is also presenting a joint appeal, will begin Tuesday.

This appeal is being closely watched by other jurisdictions in Canada, and is anticipated to eventually be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.