Hi, there.
I heartily agree. There will be a reference to the woman in southern Ontario whom I spoke of in my presentation.
She told me that she just about lost hope when she was denied access to the program. She was almost finished and had to do her placement to finish and could not get her criminal record dealt with. The only recourse she had was to wait and try to earn enough money. She told me that the figure was, I think, $1,000 that it was going to cost her. She put every penny she had into schooling. When I last spoke with her, in March this year, she was still waiting, trying to earn the money she would need to deal with this criminal charge.
So I heartily agree. I think we need to expunge all those former records. That would make a very clear statement that the legislation means what it says when it recognizes that women are truly exploited and that this has been a detriment to their getting successfully out of prostitution.