Posted: October 13, 2009
By Allison Hanes, National Post

With massage parlours and even hair salons serving as fronts for illegal prostitution, Mr. Mammoliti, a possible mayoral contender, worries the whole city could become one big red-light district in the event the sex trade is decriminalized by the courts or Parliament.

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Strip clubs look to end massage parlour advertising
By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 24th July 2009

“It is a nuisance and it’s bordering on pornographic,” Lambrinos said yesterday. “We want something done about this advertising.”

Nearly all of Toronto’s 21 strip clubs are targeted for nightly handouts, he said.

The association wants a change in bylaws that would ban the placing of flyers from vehicles within 800 metres of an adult bar, Lambrinos said.

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Allison Hanes, National Post
Saturday, Mar. 28, 2009

Q What were you doing at the House of Lancaster on The Queensway on Thursday?

A I’m co-chair with Councillor [Cesar] Palacio of the west district crime task force, and Councillor [Frank] Di Giorgio sits on the task force. Our mandate includes going out and visiting establishments that may be contributing to the crime problem in the city. So Mr. [Tim] Lambrinos from the Adult Entertainment Association recently invited all the councillors for a tour of the establishment…. They wanted to show us that they’re a good operator.

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Source: thestar.com Written By: Vanessa Lu. David Bruser

With bass-thumping techno music blasting away and a naked woman on stage, three city councillors walked into a dark Etobicoke strip club yesterday, took a tour and sat near the stage for lunch.

On a break from a community council meeting, Councillors Frank Di Giorgio, Giorgio Mammoliti and Cesar Palacio took an “industry facility tour” at the invitation of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada, a group representing many of the city’s 21 strip clubs.

“I think we made constructive use of our lunchtime,” Di Giorgio said. “We basically came over to see what the facility was like – what kind of facilities they have for the girls that work in there, whether everything was clean, whether they had space to store their materials.

“And everything was okay in my estimation,” he added.

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Councillor wants city’s ombudsman to clear obstacles to prosecuting massage parlours

By BRYN WEESE, SUN MEDIA

27th October 2009

City Hall is powerless to close massage parlours and holistic centres operating as sex dens, according to Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti.

Today, he is calling on the city’s ombudsman and its top lawyer to investigate why, and recommend changes the city, province and federal governments can make to give politicians the necessary power to shut them down.

“Our staff are bound by provincial legislation and can’t discriminate,” Mammoliti said yesterday. “The city cannot deny a licence if someone has got a clean record, so to speak.

“What’s happening is those operators going before the licensing tribunal or criminal courts, and who get convicted, will just simply change the (person’s) name on the licence application.”

Another issue, he said, is that city bylaw and licensing enforcement officers, unlike Toronto Health inspectors, can’t enter a business without a warrant.

He complained many of the policies governing them are 60 years old.

“It’s so complicated that the ombudsman, in my opinion, needs to go through the whole system and let us know what the obstacles are that are hindering us from doing our job properly,” said Mammoliti, who estimates there are 3,000 sex dens across the city.

Mammoliti’s call, being tabled at today’s council meeting, is being seconded by Councillor Mike Del Grande.

He is grappling with the same problems in Scarborough.

In yesterday’s Sun, Del Grande lamented there are concerns about how authorities are dealing with the establishments that he says pose an “increasing” problem for the city.

Politicians jump on anti-massage parlour bandwagon

By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA

26th October 2009

The chorus is growing for a city-wide crackdown on illegal massage parlours that are being run by organized crime and sprouting up everywhere.

City councillor Mike Del Grande — Scarborough Agincourt (Ward 39) — and MP Jim Karygiannis, who represents the riding of Scarborough Agincourt, have joined Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti in a fight against shady massage parlours they claim are plaguing all city residents.

“This is a problem across the city,” Del Grande said yesterday.

“They are very lucrative and are popping up everywhere.”

DelGrande said he knows of at least four round-the-clock sex dens in the area he represents.

Mammoliti on Saturday posted a note on the door of one Milvan Dr. spa, demanding that they leave his York West riding. He said there are about 3,000 of the illegal parlours in the city, with 90 in his riding alone.

“These places are posing a problem and it is only increasing,” added Del Grande. “From a citizen’s point of view, it is not clear what the police are doing to address this concern.”

He and Karygiannis are keeping a close eye on one spa that recently opened in the Pharmacy and McNicol Avenues’ area.

‘MASSAGE FOR MEN’

The spa’s website features scantily clad girls and lists their hobbies and shoe sizes. It offers “primarily a massage for men” and charges $40 for 30 minutes and $80 an hour.

Karygiannis cited another on Bamburgh Circle, where dozens of young women are being advertised for sex acts on Craigslist. The photos feature near-naked Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese women with faces hidden.

He said the parlours are moving from glaring storefront suites to quiet residential apartment units to attract less attention.

“There is no doubt organized crime is involved in controlling these girls,” Karygiannis said. “This activity brings gangs and other unwanted elements into the community.”

This week he will be sending literature in Chinese and English to residents advising them of the illegal clubs and his concerns.