Well, it’s official – the government is not only going to emulate a version of the “Nordic model” around prostitution laws, but they’re explicitly going against some of the portions of the Supreme Court ruling in the Bedford case, such as communication. The new bill makes advertising illegal, and increases penalties if there is any reasonable assumption that young people will be in the area where prostitutes are soliciting. In other words, by pushing out of the public eye, they drive it further underground where sex workers are isolated and vulnerable to predators, and if they can’t advertise, then what good is it that they are now allowed to hire receptionists or bodyguards that would allow them to practice their trade off the streets? As for talk that police will be given discretion when it comes to the definition of “reasonable expectation” – such as near a school at 3 am – that should also raise red flags because it keeps that power to charge the sex workers themselves. Peter MacKay went so far as to talk about johns as “perverts” and sex workers as “victims” – thus denying them any agency – and the token $20 million being offered to help them exit the trade doesn’t actually address any of the fundamental problems for women who are in the trade for survival, or help those who are in it voluntarily in order to make them safer. As more than one person noted, it’s like they didn’t even bother reading the Bedford decision. Here is one analysis of the bill that pretty much shoots holes through its constitutionality entirely. Another analysis says that MacKay has reframed the terms of debate legislatively from controlling a nuisance to trying to eliminate the practice, which makes the legal challenge more difficult. Emmett Macfarlane notes the arbitrary provisions in the bill like the inclusion of “religious institutions” as a prohibited area – something that is likely to pique the Court – and that it demonstrates that the government is dealing with Charter rights behind the cover of an online poll.

Not surprisingly, the government rejected a BC study that said that the Nordic model does more harm to sex workers rather than protecting them. Their justification? That online self-selected survey they conducted that showed the Nordic model of criminalizing buyers was one the public preferred. Justin Trudeau is calling on those consultations to be made public. We’ll see if either of the opposition parties has the stomach to actually oppose the bill (though the fact that the government went against the Bedford decision may help), but this is going to be a ridiculous fight – especially when my own background sources have said that the government knew they were once again flouting the constitution. It looks like this is just going to wind up back before the Supreme Court under the very same grounds that the laws do more to harm sex workers, and the government can once again say that the Courts are being mean to them.

It looks like the Government Operations Centre – which is supposed to offer strategic-level coordination for responses to emergencies and such – has issued what appear to be illegal orders to all federal government departments to track demonstrations that occur across the country. Because apparently the Charter doesn’t mean anything (but given their response to the prostitution issue, that is starting to sound like government policy).

Speaking of demonstrations, veterans are holding a series of them on the Hill. And if you watch the Power & Politics video attached to that piece, you’ll hear some blunt criticism from a group of veterans and their spouses about the way this government is treating them.

While the NDP appear to be backing away from their outright criticism of Daniel Therrien as choice for the new Privacy Commissioner, the bigger concern from both the NDP and the Liberals are the secretive selection process and rushed manner in which the confirmation is being pushed through.

Day three of the Sona trial, and Andrew Prescott – the man who took an immunity deal – took the stand and tried to say that Sona had a burner phone on his desk – something that isn’t actually indicative of anything as disposable phones were purchased for a number of campaign volunteers – while more questions were raised about the involvement of Ken Morgan, a campaign worker who has since disappeared to Kuwait. Another campaign worker has now testified that Sona bragged about being the culprit behind those robocalls, but has yet to be cross-examined.

In Question Period yesterday, Peter MacKay seemed to accuse the opposition of leaking information relating to the process around the failed appointment of Justice Nadon to the Supreme Court (which elicited some loud outbursts of denial, for the record). Irwin Cotler wants more information on how Justice Gascon was chosen to fill the vacant seat. Law professor Carissima Mathen notes that the Court still really needs a new criminal law specialist, and that the pattern of gendered selection – six out of seven appointments including Nadon – are not credible as simply “choosing the best candidate.”

Despite the NDP assuring us that the Chief Electoral Officer said that those mass mailings into ridings before by-elections were called were okay, it seems that they’re actually still being investigated. Oops. Meanwhile, despite their protestations that the other parties are ganging up on them, it was House of Commons officials and the Clerk of the Commons who flagged the mailings as being electoral in nature and against the rules. The party could end up paying back $27,000 for using Commons-branded envelopes, but it will be a different story if they are forced to repay the free mailing of 1.8 million piece of direct mail.

RCMP intelligence is warning of the “plague” of illegal tobacco in Central Canada, however there are concerns about how First Nations are going to be affected as some of those communities are planting, drying and manufacturing their own cigarettes for sale, and it has become their viable industry. Meanwhile, criminal organizations smuggle cigarettes across the St. Lawrence in the dark of night.

The Department of Finance has finally gotten rid of those tariffs that amounted to an “iPod tax,” the conclusion of what was an unnecessary battle by the government.

Apparently we’re still talking about Trudeau and the abortion thing, but at least this discussion goes more about the nature of “conscience votes” and hewing to party platforms and party policies.

Now that it’s clear that he won’t be charged for his involvement in the ClusterDuff affair, Nigel Wright is preparing for his return to Onex Corporation.

And the Queen delivered a Speech From the Throne in Westminster, which is a far more elaborate affair than we see here.