Saskatoon has postponed debate on whether to establish a red-light district for the sex trade, deciding to research what other places have done before opening the issue up for public input.

In other news: What? I live in this city and this is the first I’m hearing about a red-light district. Who exactly is pushing for this anyway?

It may have all started with the city’s police chief. He told CTV last year that licensing and regulating the sex trade would allow the police to make sure no underage people were involved.

“The police don’t have the authority to check up on people that put ads on the Internet and we’re concerned about young women and young men under the age of 18 being involved in the sex trade,” he said.

The idea may have gathered steam when, in March, the Ontario Court of Appeal removed most barriers to prostitution and effectively fully legalized it. Before that decision, prostitution itself was technically allowed but you couldn’t run brothels or use the money from prostitution (which is kind of the point of most prostitution). However, with those barriers swept aside, perhaps it was only a matter of time before a pioneering city became the sex tourism capital of the country.

But Saskatoon? Seriously?

There’s no telling what the city council will ultimately decide after looking at other jurisdictions, but the most famous red-light district in the world, in Amsterdam, has been under assault for the last five years as governments try to clean up the sex trade and clean up the city’s image in the process. It also has a bit of a reputation for contributing to human trafficking and sex slavery (bad things).

On the other hand, the average Saskatoon temperature in January is -23 degrees. No one should have to work outside in those temperatures, especially when the work uniform is a mini skirt and high heels.

via:CBC News image: mattmangum/Flickr