Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced that she has grave concerns about the anti-prostitution bill, which came into effect on Saturday, and that she will ask her Attorney General for a legal opinion on the law so as to be sure that the province is not being asked to uphold an unconstitutional law, given the concerns that were outlined in the Bedford decision by the Supreme Court. It’s a fairly interesting challenge that Wynne is making, having a provincial government coming out against federal legislation in this sense, but as the province has the duty to enforce the Criminal Code, her asking for options so publicly is an interesting case. As Emmett Macfarlane notes, it’s also interesting that she didn’t directly ask the Ontario Court of Appeal for a reference and their opinion on the law, but that could still come once the Attorney General and her office have had time to weigh in. It probably won’t make Wynne any more popular in Harper’s eyes, and will be one more reason for him to avoid meeting with her, but it could also be the first shot in a Supreme Court challenge of the legislation, which could conceivably be much faster-tracked than it would be if we had to wait for a Charter challenge the traditional way, which could conceivably help save lives, going back to the thrust of the Bedford decision in the first place.
https://twitter.com/HisFeministMama/status/541696722196787200
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/541659937022414848
Good reads:
Retired General Andrew Leslie was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate in Ottawa-Orléans, but not before red-lit would-be competitor David Bertschi burst in with a handful of supporters to denounce the affair, and police had to break up scuffles.
Despite Harper saying those cuts at Veterans Affairs were all “backroom,” staff processing disability claims took some of the deepest cuts. It bears reminding that you can’t simply dismiss this kind of administration as “backroom” because they’re the ones processing the service requests, which is kind of a big deal.
A Canadian Forces medical team is off to Sierra Leone to help with the Ebola crisis.
John Baird says that Canada won’t extend air strikes into Syria.
Leona Aglukkaq says she will meet with the provinces about Species At Risk sometime next year. So, tremendous sense of urgency.
The AFN is set to choose a new national chief this week.
Joan Bryden takes look at those elections laws that Harper railed against before his return to politics, which he hasn’t touched despite having a majority.
Odds and ends:
William and Kate are on tour in the States this week.
https://twitter.com/punditsguide/status/541818469776629760