Hookers want your vote

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by CRAIG SEGAL

You may not have heard of the Popular Party of Prostitutes (PPP) since their flamboyant Foufounes Electriques fertilization in June. But after scrounging the required $1,000 deposit and 100 signatures, the PPP told the Mirror that they will run an independent candidate in the federal election.

That might disappoint those who recall PPP leader Marie-Claude Charlebois' September promise "to unite forces with groups that work all over Canada for prostitutes' rights" and run several candidates. In fact, the PPP only made up their minds to run a candidate after a last-minute meeting on Friday. And they wouldn't reveal their candidate's name before they announce her formally, one week before the election.

Still, the sex workers are not discouraged. "It's a victory for prostitutes' rights," says Sid, a party spokesperson who says he advertises his services in the Mirror's back section. "Sex workers' rights are a basic human rights issue. It's about time someone got up and spoke out."

So what does Sid want to speak out about? Like the Marijuana Party or the Bloc, the PPP's focus is narrow: protecting sex workers' rights. That includes everyone in the biz, from heavy-breathing telephone mamas to the ladies standing outside the hotel entrance on Ste-Catherine at the corner of St-Laurent.

And for the rest of us who prostitute ourselves in non-sexual ways? "We're pro-tolerance and anti-discriminatory," Sid says.

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