City council to hold special meeting on regulating body rub parlours

Regina city council is set to decide on a licensing regime for body rub parlours at a special meeting on Monday night.

In June, a supplemental report by city administration laid out a number of recommendations for licensing:

• To change definitions in the city’s zoning bylaws to distinguish between massage parlours and therapeutic massage by adding the term “body rub establishments”;
• To allow body rub establishments on a discretionary basis in industrial zones and allow them on a discretionary basis in major arterial commercial areas;
• Set a separation distance of one block between body rub establishments and schools, churches, daycares and other body rub establishments; and,
• Develop a licensing program for establishments to monitor hours of operation, health and safety standards, worker training and support.

By regulating body rub parlours, Mayor Michael Fougere has said it’ll help protect workers in the sex trade.

Regina police also support the move to license the businesses, saying it will help them reduce human trafficking in the sex trade.

More than a dozen delegates — many of them against the regulations — are expected to share their point of view before council Monday night.

The meeting is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. in Henry Baker Hall.