‘I told you so,’ Mammoliti says after Supreme Court ruling

Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti is again touting his idea to open a brothel on the Toronto Island in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling striking down the country’s anti-prostitution laws.

In a statement released on Friday titled, “I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU SO…I guess I’m not that crazy after all,” Mammoliti said he doesn’t believe prostitution should be allowed in “our communities” and that the ruling could lead to “the grandfathering of illegal massage parlours.”

“I firmly believe that the Toronto Island needs to be the only area where prostitution is allowed in the City of Toronto,” he said.

“Shame on council and councillors that did not want to listen. We should have done our homework and made our decisions a long time ago so we would not be faced with trying to convince the federal government and provincial government to do the right thing for Toronto. It will be an uphill battle to do it now.”

The North York councillor proposed the idea for an island red-light district as part of his mayoral campaign platform in 2010 and again in March 2011, arguing tax revenue from the zone would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars for the city.

Earlier Friday, the top court unanimously struck down all three prostitution-related prohibitions — against keeping a brothel, living on the avails of prostitution and street soliciting — as violations of the constitutional guarantee to life, liberty and security of the person.

The landmark decision gives Parliament a one-year window to produce new legislation, which means prostitution-related offences will remain in the Criminal Code until Dec. 19, 2014.

With files from The Canadian Press

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