Province quiet on health and safety regulations for St. John's massage parlours - CBC.ca

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The provincial government has remained quiet on regulating massage parlours, despite being called out by St. John's Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O'Leary.

City council voted to lift its temporary ban on new massage parlours Monday, while calling on three provincial cabinet ministers to start talking about health and safety regulations in the industry.


The city can only regulate the zoning, construction, size and scale for new massage parlours. It's up to the province to regulate the industry, including health and safety.

During Monday's council meeting, O'Leary asked Mayor Danny Breen to write a letter to the provincial government requesting an update on safety measures for the industry.

She also called on Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Carol Anne Haley, Workplace NL Minister Sherry Gambin-Walsh and Health and Community Services Minister John Haggie to have an open dialogue on the issue.

"What I would kindly ask is that the mayor be willing to write a letter requesting this engagement at the provincial level regarding the present status of safety measures within this industry in our province," O'Leary said. "This really is an invitation to open discussion."

Emailed statement from government


CBC News requested interviews with each of the three ministers named in the city council meeting for more information on the province's plans to regulate the industry, but only received a statement via email.

An emailed statement to CBC News says Status of Women Minister Sherry Gambin-Walsh discussed 'a number of topics' with the RNC in January — including massage parlours. (Katie Breen/CBC)

"The safety of all workers across Newfoundland and Labrador is of the utmost importance to the provincial government," the statement said.

"The minister of Workplace NL, Sherry Gambin-Walsh, met with the RNC in January of 2019, to discuss a number of topics including this one."

A Workplace NL spokesperson said Gambin-Walsh may speak to the media Wednesday afternoon.

Neither the Office for the Status of Women nor the Department of Health responded to the request.

There's a long, long road to go.

- Angela Crockwell

Angela Crockwell, executive director of advocacy and outreach group Thrive, has supported women who have worked in massage parlours. She said because there are no rules right now, any regulations would have to start from Square 1.

"There's a long, long road to go," she said. "This is probably the only industry that I can think of where we would say giving a business owner a licence is a protection of workers' rights and workers' safety."

"And it's not lost on me that this is an industry of predominantly women, and somehow, that's acceptable."

Some former workers in massage parlours would like to see a decline in the operation of the parlours altogether. (CBC)

Tabatha is one of those women. CBC has agreed to change her name to protect her identity for safety reasons.

She said sexual health and drug use are issues threatening the safety of women working in massage parlours.

"I have been there, I have lived through that," said Tabatha.

"It doesn't matter what the client is bringing in. If they're bringing in needles, if they're bringing in crack, if they're bringing in whatever — once you get into that room, that's that."

Ultimately, Tabatha said she doesn't agree with massage parlours operating in the city.

"I would like to see a decrease in the number of men going into these brothels."

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