Canadian Press

Law to get kid prostitutes off streets planned

The Ontario government is planning to introduce legislation to give police the power to get child prostitutes off the streets.

Police now estimate there are more than 1,000 children working as prostitutes in cities across Ontario.

Attorney General Jim Flaherty said Thursday he's drafting new legislation that tries to avoid constitutional problems encountered with Alberta's child prostition law.

Ontario has learned from the Alberta experience and is trying to create a bill that is constitutionally sound, Flaherty said

Boys and girls aged 16 and 17 are falling through the cracks because they are too old to be protected by Children's Aid Societies, yet are still under the age of majority, he said.