Re-Configuring the Margins: Tracing the Regulatory Context of Ottawa Strip Clubs, 1974–2000

Canadian Journal of Law and Society

Volumn 17, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 69-87

  Bruckert, Chris ^a   Dufresne, Martin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84899026305     PISSN: 08293201     EISSN: 19110227     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0829320100007006     Document Type: Article

References (104)

1. M. Foucault, “The Subject and Power” (1982) 8 Critical Inquiry 77
2. M. Foucault, “Governmentality” in G. Burchell, C. Gordon & P. Miller, eds. The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality (London: Harvester, 1991) 87.
3. N. Rose, “The Death of the Social? Re-figuring the territory of government” (1996) 24:3 Economy and Society 327
4. Gary Kinsman, “'Responsibility’ as a strategy of governance: regulation people living with AIDS and lesbians and gay men in Ontario” (1996) 25:3 Economy and Society 393
5. Kelly Hannah-Moffat “Prisons that Empower” (2000) 40 British Journal of Criminology 510
6. K. Fox, “Changing Violent Minds” (1999) 46:1 Social Problems 88
7. B. Vaughan, “The Government of Youth: Disorder and dependence?” (2000) 9:3 Social & Legal Studies 347.
8. Canadian Journal of Law and Society I Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, 2002, Volume 17, no. 1, pp. 69–87.
9. R. Allen, Horrible Prettiness (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991) at 40.
10. M. Valverde, “The Harms of Sex and the Risks of Breasts: Obscenity and Indecency in Canadian Law” (1999) 8: 2 Social & Legal Studies 194.
11. E. Herman and N. Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988).
12. L. Bell, ed. Good Girls, Bad Girls: Sex Trade Workers and Feminists Face to Face (Toronto: The Women's Press, 1987)
13. M. Dragu & A.S.A. Harrison, Revelations: Essays on Striptease and Sexuality (London: Nightwood Editions, 1988)
14. D. Atkinson, Highways and Dance Halls (Vancouver: Random House, 1996)
15. L. Tracey, Growing Up Naked (Vancouver: Douglas & Mclntyre, 1997).
16. D. Spender, Invisible Women, The Schooling Scandal (London: Writers and Readers, 1982) at 14.
17. E. J. Burford, Wits, Wenches and Wantons London's Low Life, Covent Garden in the 18th Century (London: Robert Hale, 1986) at 91.
18. Tracey, Wits, Wenches and Wantons London's Low Life, Covent Garden in the 18th Century 6
19. A. Cario, This Was Burlesque (New York: Grosset & Dunlop, 1968).
20. While there are undoubtedly some women who work as both prostitutes and strippers this research found limited evidence of this overlap. These findings are consistent with industry insider accounts (see Bell; Tracey; Dragu and Harrison, This Was Burlesque 6).
21. The conflation of the industry with prostitution is, as we will see, a powerful discrediting discourse with little basis in fact. Fleischman is one of the few academic studies that found this overlap. Notably, this research relied on police claims. Perhaps it is not surprising that this researcher found “strippers as a group would not talk to us.” J. Fleischman, Prostitution in Ontario: An Overview (Ottawa: Department of Justice, 1984) at 45.
22. Cario, Prostitution in Ontario: An Overview 9.
23. Notwithstanding that no connection was ever discovered (see Allen, Prostitution in Ontario: An Overview 3 at 256)
24. the District Attorney of Brooklyn confidently maintained that burlesque was “largely responsible for the sex degeneracy and sex crimes of the city”, quoted in I. Zeidman, The American Burlesque Show (New York: Hawthorn 1967) at 229. In 1937 burlesque was banned from New York and the burlesque theatre disappeared, albeit temporarily, from the eastern United States.
25. R. v. Murphy (1972), 8 CC (2d) 313 (Ont. Prov. Ct (Criminal Division)).
26. Johnson v. The Queen (1973), 13 CC (2d) 402
27. [1975] 2 S.C.R. 160.
28. See A. Cooke, “Stripping: Who Calls the Tune” in Bell, S.C.R. 6 at 94; An Act to Amend the Liquor Licence Act, Statutes of the Province of Ontario, 1973, c. 68, 69.
29. Bentivoglio Holdings Administration, “A Short History of Bentivoglio Holdings”, Submission to City of Ottawa concerning Adult Entertainment Parlours (1991) [unpublished], archived at the Ottawa Public Library, Ottawa Room.
30. B. Hill, “Marie finds taking it off a put-on” The Ottawa Citizen (1 August 1979) 1.
31. T. Atherton, “Strip clubs: flesh trade's gold mine” The Ottawa Citizen (28 April 1986) B8.
32. R. v. Szunejko (1981), 61 CC (2d) 359
33. 6 W.C.B. 326 (Ont. Prov. Ct).
34. Our survey suggests that new clubs did not initially receive a great deal of media attention. The few articles on the industry that appeared between 1974 and 1981 in The Ottawa Citizen were more patronizing than condemning, suggesting that the women had “tattoos and black eyes and. look kind of dirty” and describing the “peeler” act as “the lumbering antics of a dancer whose dimensions far exceed her charm”, in T. Coic & P. Maser, “Cover up, Ottawa police tell city strippers” The Ottawa Citizen (20 April 1979) 3. The women may have been pitiful and lacking in authentic talent or skill, but they were not constituted as a true social problem and neither were the clubs in which they laboured.
35. P. Phillips, “Labour in the Canadian Political Economy” in W. Clement, ed. Understanding Canada: Building on the New Canadian Political Economy (Montreal Queen's University Press, 1997) at 73.
36. J. Rinehart, The Tyranny of Work: Alienation and the Labour Process, 3rd ed. (Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1996) at 78.
37. Deskilling is a complex process that involves undermining the power of skilled workers by reducing their tasks to the simplest components and reducing their autonomy either through the division of labour or with the introduction of automation. H. Braverman, Labour and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974).
38. A. Cooke, “Sex Trade Workers and Feminists: Myths and Illusions”, in Bell, Labour and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century 6 at 191.
39. We are using the concept of social problems as articulated by Spector and Kitsuse who argue that social issues and processes emerge as problems at particular historical moments and are constructed through claims-making by interest groups. Their claims-making model includes the assertion of an interest group that a condition constitutes a social problem, as well as a recognition by the state of the legitimacy of the claims and (implicitly) of the expertise of the interest group. There may be a third stage - an inquiry/ investigation by the state into the (now) authoritatively defined social problem. M. Spector & J. Kitsuse, Constructing Social Problems (New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1987 [1977]) at 147.
40. D. Lacombe, Blue Politics: Pornography in the Age of Feminism (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994).
41. Council of the Corporation of the City of Ottawa, City Council Meeting, September 6, 1995 (Ottawa: City of Ottawa, 1995) at 20–255.
42. H. Adami, “Strippers continue to take it off, despite Goulbourn's new by-law” The Ottawa Citizen (3 November 1982) 29.
43. K. Egan, “Stripper proposal blasted” The Ottawa Citizen (21 October 1982) 25
44. “Goubourn plans crackdown on nude entertainment” The Ottawa Citizen (19 October 1982) 14.
45. J. Miller, “Strip by-law should be axed, says committee” The Ottawa Citizen (15 November 1985) CI.
46. See E.D. Nelson & A. Fleras, Social Problems in Canada: Issues and Challenges (Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 1995). It would appear that rates of crime in strip clubs were not exceptionably high during this period. According to police statistics between the period 1984 and 1991 clubs averaged between seven and ten police reports filed annually.
47. See, City of Ottawa, Adult Entertainment Parlours: Recommendations (Department of Planning and Development: Ottawa, City of Ottawa, 1991) at 21.
48. See for example S. Barron & J. Kessel, “Stripping: A good paying job” The Ottawa Citizen (23 December 1982) 19
49. S. Barron & J. Kessel, “Costs high in battle to make strippers cover up” The Ottawa Citizen (23 December 1982) 17
50. T. Harper, “Six days a week of bar brawls, sleazy hotels - and catcalls” The Ottawa Citizen (26 February 1983) 69.
51. R. Cleroux, “Swinging Montreal has Galic touch on sex, without strip” Globe and Mail (21 September 1977) 1.
52. Quoted in I. MacCleod, “Nepean cracks down with strip club by-law” The Ottawa Citizen (14 December 1983) Bl, 10.
53. A similar Ottawa by-law was narrowly defeated in December 1984. “Council declines to impose morals” The Ottawa Citizen (23 November 1984) A8.
54. J. Miller, “Ottawa's defenders of morality suffer double wammy in one day” The Ottawa Citizen (22 November 1984) Bl.
55. M. Johnson, “CABE and Strippers: A Delicate Union” in Bell, The Ottawa Citizen 6.
56. Miller, The Ottawa Citizen 47
57. C. Harris, “Club workers picket alderman's home” The Ottawa Citizen (17 September 1984) B3.
58. Social movements are the result of a complex combination of interests and concerns. In Toronto there was some agitation against table dancing including the presentation of a three hundred name petition to city council (Johnson, The Ottawa Citizen 48) however this was a very localized challenge.
59. Citizen, “Owner of strip clubs warns pushers to stay out” The Ottawa Citizen (22 July 1986) CI.
60. S. Auerback & A. James, The Annotated Municipal Act (Scarborough: Carswell Publishing, 1999).
61. Ottawa's city council, which had taken a much more careful and civil libertarian approach since the “problem” first emerged, did not immediately enact similar restrictions. However, when community groups organized against The Den on Russel Road on the basis of its close proximity to a teen club, an interim zoning restriction was imposed. Ironically, not the strip but the teen club was a source of disruptive behaviour and was obliged to hire off-duty police officers to patrol the parking lot to reduce vandalism and illegal drinking. See Citizen “Teen, strip clubs too close for city's comfort” The Ottawa Citizen (24 November 1987) B16.
62. A. Smith quoted in M. Richardson, “Shutting down the strip clubs” The Ottawa Citizen (21 March 1991) C4.
63. Supt. J. McCombie quoted in “Police dispute stripper's claims” The Ottawa Citizen (3 November 1987) C3.
64. City of Ottawa, The Ottawa Citizen 40.
65. The Ottawa Citizen, at 8. A few dancers did, under threat of sanction, procure licences but the by-law quickly fell into disuse. In practice, Ottawa like Nepean in 1984 was ultimately defeated by the very transient, precarious and marginal nature of the industry that rendered licensing too costly and inefficient to police. E. Scullion, “Stripped of their rights?” Ottawa Magazine (May/June 1992) 58
66. S. Bindman & S. Barron, “Ottawa strip clubs facing crackdown” The Ottawa Citizen (15 March 1984) B1. 16. In 1999, although by-law number L-241 was still active, it is largely ignored by dancers and the city's by-law officers alike.
67. P. Phillips, «Labour in the New Canadian Political Economy* in W. Clement, ed. Understanding Canada: Building the New Canadian Political Economy (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press 1997) at 64.
68. J. Corman, D. Livingstone & M. Luston, Getting By in Hard Times: Restructuring Gender and Class in Hamilton, Ontario, 1980 to 1996 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2001).
69. K. Hughes, Gender and Self Employment in Canada. Assessing Trends and Policy Implications. Report # 4W04 (Ottawa: CPRN 1999).
70. The Supreme Court ruled that masturbation in private cubicles, without contact, was consistent with community standards. R. v. Tremblay (1993), 84 C.C.C. (3d) 97 (S.C.C.).
71. J. Chindley, “A no to dirty dancing” MacLeans (17 July 1995) 34.
72. H.S. Bhabra, “Ten dollars a dance” Toronto Life (May 1995)
73. N. McGill, “More Than a Dance” Ottawa Express (15 February 1996) 9.
74. P. McGrath, “Sylvia Lauzon and many other dancers would welcome a return to the ‘look don't touch’ rule” The Ottawa Citizen (14 February 2000)
75. K. Jaimet, “It's war on lap dancing” The Ottawa Citizen (14 February 2000) B5
76. R. Stevenson, “Adrienne L'Ecuyer, 20, a student who works as an exotic dancer” The Ottawa Citizen (2 February, 2000) F5.
77. M. I. Harvey, “Lap dance issue touchy; Lawyer argues to uphold by-law” The Toronto Sun (21 September 1995) 44.
78. J. Cumming, “Lap ban riles dancer” The Toronto Sun (28 August 1995) 44
79. C. Fragomeni, “Solid Gold threatens court action: If Burlington outlaws lap dancing, strip club would have to lay off up to 20 workers” The Spectator (10 November 1995) Tl
80. J. Kingston, “Lap-dance ban a killer: club owner” The Toronto Sun (27 August 1995). Clubs in Toronto even started charging a five dollar a shift surcharge on dancers to offset the legal costs they were incurring rhetorically in their interests.
81. A. Giddens, “Brave New World: The New Context of Politics” in D. Miliband, ed. Reinventing the Left (Cambridge: Polity, 1994).
82. R. v. Mara, [1997] 2 R.C.S. 630
83. R. v. Butler (1992), 70 C.C.C. 3(d) 129 (S.C.C.).
84. This reasoning was clarified two years later when the Supreme Court ruled in Pelletier that the practice was acceptable provided it occurred in semi-private conditions; R. v. Pelletier, [1993] 3 S.C.R. (3d) 863 [hereinafter Pelletier].
85. Under the 1868 Hicklin test, reflected in Criminal Code (1955) section 152, a performance was deemed indecent if it was likely to “deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such influences.” R. v. Hicklin (1868), L.R. 3 Q.B. 360.
86. On the limits of community empowerment, see Valverde, L.R 4.
87. Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.0.1, s. 50 (1); “Lap dancing declared a health hazard” The Ottawa Citizen (3 August 1995) A4.
88. The health discourse also started to permeate the courts. The crown attorney argued in the Ontario Court of Appeal that lap-dancing was morally problematic, that it objectifies women and exposes workers to fatal diseases and that “the touchstone has to be, for the criminal law, harm.” D. Butt quoted in D. McDougall, “Lap dancing can be fatal for strippers” The Ottawa Citizen (19 September 1995) A12.
89. P. Hum, “Councillors try to stop ‘mutation’ of prostitution” The Ottawa Citizen (7 September 1995) B2
90. I. Harvey, “Lap dancing issue back in court” The Toronto Sun (16 November 1995) 56.
91. Council of the Corporation of the City of Ottawa, Ci'ry Council Meeting, March 20, 1996 (Ottawa: City of Ottawa, 1996) at 9–17 to 9–22.
92. Citizen, “Ottawa studies ways to end lap dancing” The Ottawa Citizen (14 December 1995) E8
93. Citizen, “Tap dance around lap dance” The Ottawa Citizen (14 March 1997) B2.
94. S. Bindman, “Court bans lap dancing” The Ottawa Citizen (13 March 1997) Al
95. S. Bindman, “Judges put end to lap dancing” The Ottawa Citizen (27 June 1997) A1
96. Jaimet, The Ottawa Citizen 68.
97. O. Kay, “The act is sick” The Ottawa Citizen (2 February 2000) F5
98. Jaimet, The Ottawa Citizen 68
99. D. Morse, “Lap dancing destroys women” The Ottawa Citizen (2 February 2000) F5.
100. “Lap dogs to the law” The Ottawa Citizen (31 January 2000) D8.
101. T. Jones, “Free to quit” The Ottawa Citizen (2 February 2000) F5.
102. G. Pheterson, “The Category ‘Prostitute’ in Scientific Inquiry” (1990) 17: 3 Journal of Sex Research 146.
103. P. Miller & N. Rose, “Governing Economic Life” (1990) 19:1 Economy and Society 1.
104. DERA, Mission Statement (Ottawa: Dancers Equal Rights Association of Ottawa Carleton, 2001) [unpublished].