Saskatchewan has always been a bit weird about strip clubs. Having a stripper near alcohol has only been allowed for a year, but ever since cities have been working hard to avoid actually allowing such a thing to happen within their limits. The latest example was in Regina, where city council actually received a standing ovation after they denied a zoning application to allow a strip club within the city.
That reaction is a bit much, as is a quote from city councillor Wade Murray, who said “I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder to be a part of a municipal government.” Given the number of things a city council has to deal with, preventing a strip club from happening being your proudest moment does make one question what, exactly, is being accomplished by the city council in Regina. The pure and delicate flower that is Saskatchewan has again be saved from the topless menace that strippers apparently represent. We have once again prevented ourselves from descending into a vat of depravity and sin, though that said most cities that allow for such adult entertainment venues are totally fine so maybe people are overreacting just a touch.
The province’s weird attitude towards strip clubs has been in existence for as long as I can remember. In some ways, I’m actually kind of grateful for it, because I mostly just find them more depressing than entertaining. Then again, maybe I have long since internalized the province’s attitude towards the entertainment. If we are outlining the ethical issues that surround a lot of this adult entertainment I would lend a sympathetic ear at least, and might even agree with many of the points raised.
If I don’t want to see strippers myself, that doesn’t mean that I would have joined the crowd in standing to applaud the business being rejected. In fact, I would be more likely to argue that it’s projecting an image of light insanity to people outside the province. As so many parts of the world have had strippers for years, they might be wondering why the people here are so aghast at the very concept. Having it pitched as a big moral battle might remind people of the town in Footloose that banned dancing.
Still, it’s not like the province has not had a proud history of inexplicable prudishness, bars in the 1950s would not even allow fully clothed women as patrons. This could be argued to be part of that fine, long standing tradition of being a bit paternalistic whenever alcohol comes into play. It might be an attitude that has never worked particularly well – given that the province has extremely high drinking and driving rates relative to the rest of the country – but it has been consistent from the province’s founding to today. Given that the question of strippers is wrapped up with drinking itself, it’s just another part of the strange puritanical streak that the province clung to for decades.
I am fine with never seeing a strip club in the province, and if people want to prevent one from starting up in the province then so be it. The issue I have is that this fight against them is making the province look crazy. Quietly rejecting an application might have been acceptable, but treating it as a victory for a proud community is a bit like the villains of a Kevin Bacon movie. We need to calm down about the idea of strippers in this province.
