New Massage Parlour

[A H]

Was wondering if anyone was watching CTV winnipeg news about the new parlour opening in a month or less on higgins and main? I've heard of the guy from a friend of mine and wants to start a new business up in the area.

 

[Lamia]

Don't know how he's going to get a license. I'ld expect LE to be all over him with regular raids, cause you know there isn't any other crimes going down in the city so may as well spend lots of time and money on the sex trade.

 

[M-Tri]

Great choice for a location !!

 

[Sandra D]

That new location certainly won't be getting any endorsements from the Youth For Christ church on the other side of Higgins.

 

[Matty boi]

I say bring it on. Winnipeg is sorely lacking in MP options for pooners. We've had to just accept what's available for far too long becasue of all of the restrictions our city puts on new MP's.
A little more competition in the marketplace only benefits the consumer.

 

[AutumnWynd777]

No, I didn't hear about it. What details are there?

 

[lola1234]

Jen Skerritt reviews for the Winnipeg Free Press, 25 Nov 2011:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/scrub-rub-parlour-city-urged-134482913.html
A core-area Christian youth centre plans to fight a city decision to allow a massage parlour to open nearby.

The City of Winnipeg recently gave Bliss Body Works the go-ahead to open a massage parlour at 328 King St., just steps away from the new, $13.5-million non-profit Youth for Christ centre, which offers recreation and counselling for young people.

Youth for Christ executive director John Courtney said "it seems a little crazy" the city would allow a massage parlour to move into the neighbourhood, as the youth centre's vision was to try to restore the area's bad reputation. In a letter to the city, Courtney said it appears the massage parlour is "much more related to the 'pleasure' aspects of massage."

He said he questions what kind of clientele the parlour, in close proximity to children at the outreach centre, will attract to the district.

The massage parlour's owner said it will not offer "explicit sexual services," but Courtney said he's already heard complaints from concerned parents.

Council's downtown development committee will review the Youth for Christ's appeal at a meeting Monday.

"My concern is what would give us the confidence that this is not a brothel in disguise," Courtney said.

"How many husbands are going to have a conversation with their wife (and say), 'I'm going for a massage at Higgins and Main?' "

The city regulates certain businesses such as massage parlours and pawn shops to prevent crime and protect the public's health and safety.

Massage parlours are only permitted inside the downtown area and employ "massagists," who are different than registered massage therapists, as they have not graduated from a recognized school of massage therapy or equivalent educational program. Currently, there are three licensed massage parlours in Winnipeg.

Bliss Body Works owner John MacKenzie said his plan is to establish a wellness centre that will also offer yoga and martial arts training.

MacKenzie said he will eventually hire a registered massage therapist and that none of his employees will offer sexual services.

"It's totally legitimate, clean massage," he said.

However, George Fraser, executive director of the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba, said massage parlours give registered massage therapists a bad reputation, and he thinks the city should call them what they really are -- sex parlours.

"This is a level of prostitution that is permitted and allowed in the community," Fraser said.

"We don't like it being called massage; we would like it to be labelled as sex-trade parlours, and the people who work there be labelled sex-trade workers."

Fraser said the association deals with complaints every month from registered massage therapists who have been propositioned by a client who wants them to perform a sexual act they paid for at a massage parlour.

He said he has no doubt sexual favours are purchased in massage parlours.

Courtney said he has not consulted his membership about the massage parlour because he worries it will bring more attention to the problem and parents will not allow their children to visit the Christian youth centre.

"I don't understand the approval process, but I was very surprised to hear the city supports it," he said.

 

[Alysha G]

CBC reviews, 28 Nov 2011:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/11/28/mb-youth-christ-massage-parlour-bliss-manitoba.html
Massage centre OK'd by Winnipeg city committee

Youth for Christ has lost a bid to stop a massage parlour from becoming a neighbour to its downtown Winnipeg youth drop-in centre.

The faith-based group, whose multi-million-dollar centre is about to open at the corner of Higgins Avenue and Main Street, claimed the parlour business would be more about offering clients pleasure than a massage.

Executive director John Courtney told a City Hall committee on Monday that he feared the business would become a brothel visited by unsavoury characters who could threaten children going to his youth centre.

But John MacKenzie, who wants to open Bliss Bodyworks in a strip mall beside the centre, insisted it would be a legitimate business that consisted of a boot camp exercise program, a martial arts centre and alternative massage centre.

There will be no sex trade, he said.

He added it's the city, not him, that classifies the business as a massage parlour — inciting all of the unsavoury suggestions that go with the name.

MacKenzie told CBC News that he had already explained to the group that their view of the business was wrong.

The committee voted to let the massage parlour proceed with conditions: it will have restricted hours and MacKenzie must return to the committee in 18 months to prove that it is a reputable business.

At the same time, the committee agreed that its classifications might need to be reworked and recommended changes to some by-laws.
Opinion from Winnipeg Free Press, 28 Nov 2011:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/rub-joints-also-need-a-place-134579698.html
Rub joints also need a place

A Christian drop-in centre at Main Street and Higgins Avenue is upset that a massage parlour has been granted civic approval to go into business in the same neighbourhood, reigniting an old debate about where these kinds of establishments should be allowed, if anywhere.

The rub parlour is not a threat to children or others -- far less so, in any event, than the seedy hotels on the north side of the CP Rail tracks or the nearby soup kitchens and detox centre -- and it has a legal right to set up shop.

But let's get something straight at the beginning. The City of Winnipeg licenses prostitution. It's no secret that massage parlours, which operate under a civic bylaw, are fronts for the sex trade.

The rules of operation for massage parlours the city sets go so far as to forbid sexual activity that they actually confirm that something naughty is being bought and sold.

No other business, for example, has licensing rules that forbid nudity, and sexual or nude entertainment, or that compels employees and "massagists" to wear "non-transparent garments (that) cover his or her body between the neck and no more than 10 cm above the top of the knee."

Even restaurants, where children go, allow or encourage their female waiters to wear sexually suggestive clothing. Strip clubs are allowed to erect sexually suggestive signage, but not massage parlours.

Legitimate massage therapists are not bound by any rules other than proof they graduated from a certified course of instruction, while those who work in massage parlours require criminal-record checks and a certificate of good character from a police review board.

The licence fee for rub parlours is about $4,200 -- the most expensive for any business -- which the city requires as compensation for the regular inspections the Winnipeg Police Service vice division conducts. It is the only business that is actually restricted to the downtown.

The city doesn't agree it licenses prostitution -- in fact, the licence prohibits it -- but almost every time someone tries to open a massage parlour, someone else complains about the underground sex trade. That's probably why there are only three licensed rub parlours today.

The Youth for Christ centre is appealing the city's decision to grant the massage parlour a conditional use permit, or zoning approval, which it needs before it can buy a licence.

But if a massage parlour can't open in that industrial/commercial neighbourhood, then where can it? The city has no basis for denying the zoning approval, but what it could do is amend the bylaw to allow the indoor sex trade to expand into other areas of the city.

There's no reason why these businesses could not be allowed in industrial parks or dense commercial zones. The city could even impose restrictions limiting their proximity to schools and playgrounds.

Massage parlours may not be everyone's favourite neighbour, but they are not illegal -- at least not until, or if, they are caught with their pants down -- and they actually provide safe havens for women who have decided they want to work in the sex industry.

Youth for Christ should withdraw its appeal, and the city should open other areas of the city so massage parlours are not limited to the downtown.

 

[kELLz !]

I don't know how well this approach is gonna work. I think he would have been better off just keeping his mouth shut and letting things blow over but he was in teh free press again saying how he's a victim of the city as there was no other category to license him under and that he's running some kind of new agey spa with martial arts training and other stuff. he's got the youth for christ guy saying he's satisfied this is a legit business in print when he finds out the truth he's going to be pretty upset and make a big fuss

 

[Pompal 09.]

Its about time we get a new parlour.....hopefully the owner does it up right , and it rivals EB/TO as far as decor and cleanliness , as we are sorely lacking in that department. I also hope that he can run the business the way it should be run , and that LE lets him run his business without all the hassels that could go with it. If the city has approved it, then it is a legal business , just like the other parlours in town , and should be viewed as such.
I always get a kick out of the perception of all the "unsavory characters" that this attracts ..........lol..most of these unsavory charchaters are the same people who drive this economy , and are high up in organizations that are making well over $60,000 - $100,000 a year.....and they are unsavory???.......lol.....what about the bumms that are in that area now!!.....in all likelihood there will be more affluent people in the area then bums /panhandlers once this buisness opens!!....
I look forward to its opening , and doen't anyone realize that people who will frequent this establishment will consist of businessmen , polaticians(all levels including MP's), policemen, firemen, pro hockey players (NHL), pro football players(CFL), semipro baseball players, executives, sports fans who can afford $175 seats and box offices, and just your average Joe. If anybody thinks any different they are kidding themselves!

 

[AnaBabyBunny]

Sorry guys, drove past it, think this place is going to be legit.

 

[curiouswoman]

Seems unlikely there was an ad a while back on BP looking for Tantric Masseuse trainess for a new parlor on Kings st opening soon. I can't see it being called Tantric if rubbing of the dingus isn't involved

 

[~C.b.~]

I talked to the guy in person he was outside smoking a cig and told me this will be a good this for new people. He wouldn't tell me exactly what that meant cause this is a new place but said this. It will cut into EB/TO business. That tells me one thing new place in town. He wouldnt come out with a statement like that. He's got it so it makes it look like a sports fitness place in which he has done his work on this business and makes it look alot better.

 

[Werowrigo]

Whether it's legit or not, I likely won't be going there just yet. It'll be under a lot of scrutiny to start off with, and I don't like the idea of that much attention.

Also - only 3 licensed parlours? I'm guessing those would be EB, B'ways and Nevada. What about Moonlight? How are they still in business?

 

[Krish K]

It's on the TV and papers,the town council approved of the opening of the business license as a massage parlor. The owner wants the business under massage therapy.But only female staff is hired.Keep your eyes peel in January.
Alot of unfavourable conditions were met before the town council gave the green light. eg.No hours of operation allowed after 7pm(who gets the need in the day?)Everyone therapists needs to be licensed.(as if a few months of so called training considered when a real mt takes 2 years)
I can't see myself visiting there you'll be under surveliance for a very long time.

 

[chacoa]

Agreed. Staying away.

 

[Saraccureflef]

well for me Im going first day it opens so I can be on ctv news or global news getting out of my car and going back in my car just in under 20 minutes

 

[dudeydogdog]

Read the uproar but perhaps the MP's don't want to have christians as neighbors!

 

[Nan Hawthorne]

Wasn't Mary Magdelin (sp?) an SP? Just like old times for the Christians!

 

[Pompal 09.]

Zing....lol.

I'l try it out.