Editor, the Times:

The writer of a recently published letter (Shocking ads don't belong in newspaper, Times, July 27) claimed to be shocked to see an ad for a massage parlour.

A blatantly dishonest arrangement exists in Canada regarding law enforcement turning a blind eye to prostitution businesses. Criminal Code sections pertaining to living on the avails of prostitution of another person (s.212.1.j) and common bawdy houses (s.210) officially outlaw such enterprises, yet in practice they are almost entirely tolerated and often licensed in cities across the country under the euphemistic labels of "escort agencies" and "massage parlours".

When the same circumstances existed there, royal commissions in two Australian states found vice cops and licensing officials had been routinely paid off by the owners of the supposedly outlawed prostitution businesses.

Much of Australia and New Zealand subsequently decriminalized the sex business, allowing the "massage parlours" to legally operate as brothels, rather than keep the highly questionable extralegal arrangement maintained in Canada.

But of course the most important thing in Canada is that we politely avoid acknowledging the situation, as any sincere discussion may lead to a nasty debate on the subject.

We must therefore sternly admonish anything such as a newspaper ad that threatens our ability to continue pretending that the blatantly dishonest present arrangement does not exist. Shame on you, Abbotsford Times, for offending our disingenuous sensibilities.

Keith Baxter

Toronto, Ont.