Ottawa, May 17: Canada will start denying work permits to foreign strippers to prevent them from being abused and to clamp down on human trafficking, Immigration Minister Diane Finley said.

Laws will be changed to allow immigration officers to deny work permits to foreign strippers if authorities believe there is a strong possibility they could be subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment, including sexual exploitation.

''This will prevent situations where temporary workers in Canada, including strippers, may be abused, exploited or possibly become victims of human trafficking,'' Finley said in a statement yesterday.

In December 2004, the then Liberal government scrapped a program that handed out temporary work permits to foreign-born exotic dancers.

At the time, the then immigration minister had been accused of giving preferential treatment to a Romanian stripper.

''The previous Liberal government gave blanket exceptions to foreign strippers to work in Canada despite warnings that they were vulnerable to forced prostitution and other exploitation,'' Finlay told Parliament.

''Thanks to today's amendments, the good old days of Liberal 'strippergate' will be a thing of the past.'' REUTERS DS PM0925>