Holy smokes! "Nuns" coming here from Ukraine have a dirty
habit of taking it all off in Toronto-area girlie bars, immigration
officials warn.
Nightclub insiders say Canada has shut its doors to foreign strippers
and women are finding clever ways of getting here, including posing as
nannies, babysitters or even clergy.
Canadian embassy officials in Kiev have told immigration authorities
here there's a new trend of strippers posing as nuns to get around tough
rules to travel here to work.
In a confidential document, Kiev embassy staffer Marlene Massey said
officers refused visas to a group of "nuns" travelling to
Canada because they were exotic dancers in disguise.
'MAY HAVE MISSED OTHERS'
"We refused them," Massey said. "We may have missed
some others." Federal immigration spokesman Peter Lamey said
legitimate nuns don't require work permits.
"We have a different approach for processing nuns or anyone in
the clergy," Lamey said. "They are exempted under the
Immigration Act."
He said there are no checks conducted to determine if the
"nuns" actually work in a church upon arrival.
"Our officers are pretty observant," Lamey said. "They
watch out for a lot of things abroad."
However, officials of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada
said the flow of foreign strippers has been closed off and those women
are using innovative ways to get here.
'BIG DEMAND' HERE
"The money is here and dancers will always find ways to get
here," said association president Sorin Cohn. "There's a big
demand for dancers in Canada."
Ottawa has almost stopped foreign dancers from coming here to work by
imposing tough restrictions, which means women must have a portfolio and
prove they're dancers.
"Dancers create jobs and make a contribution to Canadian
society," Cohn said. "Sure, you will find one or two bad
apples in the bunch."
He said Ontario strip clubs could use at least 1,000 more strippers
to meet the demand.
Most of the dancers are brought in from Russia, Hungary, Ukraine and
Central and South America. Many are promised modelling jobs but end up
stripping.