When Kitimat councillor's meet tonight at a Committee of the Whole meeting they'll tackle the issue of escort services.
Except it likely won't be whether to allow or disallow any such business but rather how regulated they plan to make such operations in town. (The Municipal Code has no language which reflects this type of business.)
Kitimat administration has told councillors through a report that a business licence application has been made for an escort service.
Staff has put together possible wording amendments to Kitimat's Municipal Code but have also warned council that there is not much power to actually prohibit any such business.
They cite past challenges in Canada's Supreme Courts which have upheld the legality of such businesses. While the town could refuse a business licence application, an application cannot be "unreasonably refused." Because of past court cases, administration feels prohibiting the business would not be reasonable.
Some of the terms the council committee may be considering are hours of operation and how records are kept of those working in the business as well as those requesting the services.
The proposed definition of an escort agency is "an escort service or agency run by a licensee that charges or receives a fee for providing an escort for social occasions…"