A Vancouver lawyer cautioned the federal government that it had better be prepared for prostitutes to be treated as independent contractors without employment law protection if Canada’s prostitution law is repealed.

Gwendoline Allison told the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which is currently reviewing the Protecting Communities and Exploited Persons Act, that repealing the act would lead to considerable to employment-related problems.

“I recognize that many employment-related laws are mainly within the provincial sphere of regulation and out of the control of Parliament,” Allison told the committee Tuesday. “So if Parliament decides to repeal, your role becomes very limited.”

Employment laws would not protect prostitutes because they would be classified as independent contractors, said Allison, a member of the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s anti-human trafficking committee. While prostitutes would be permitted to register for Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan benefits, they would have no minimum wage, overtime, or job security provisions.

Classifying prostitutes as independent contractors might also leave them unprotected by human rights legislation, which would only apply to workers in brothels, she said.

Allison said decriminalizing prostitution has further implications because it is unlawful to make sex a condition of employment. How could sexual activity at work be managed if prostitution is decriminalized, she asked.

“A lack of attention to...

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