The Star Phoenix reports that, in light of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling striking down the prohibition on keeping bawdy houses, the City of Saskatoon has proposed a requirement that escort agencies and other “adult service businesses” operate in the city’s industrial areas, far from residential neighbourhoods. Where businesses could operate would be dictated by business licenses.
The proposal would require adult service businesses not currently located in the specified areas to relocate after their current business license expires. Individual escorts would be permitted to operate out of their homes but only as offices where they do not see clients.
Mariana Valverde, a criminologist at the University of Toronto, was quoted in the Star Phoenix as praising Saskatoon for anticipating the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on the bawdy house provision, which could strike down the law across Canada:
“Municipalities have to face up to the fact that the prostitution laws are not going to survive,” Valverde said, “and the businesses will have to be regulated.”
However, she criticized the city’s proposal on the basis that it could isolate sex work and make it more dangerous:
“The general principle should be you put these businesses where there are already similar business with similar hours and uses,” Valverde said. “Any place you can put a bar you should be able to put an escort service. What you don’t do is isolate them and stigmatize them and heighten risk for the workers.”
The CBC is reporting that yesterday’s arrest of Charles Leblanc on the grounds of the New Brunswick legislature will now be handled by the RCMP. Leblanc, a blogger and well-known critic of the Fredericton police, was banned from the legislative precinct for life in 2006. Read about his latest case here.
The CBC is reporting that Charles Leblanc was arrested this morning for trespassing at the New Brunswick Legislature. Leblanc was banned in 2006 from entering the legislature grounds. Earlier this month the New Brunswick government decided not to proceed with a charge of criminal libel against Leblanc, citing concerns about the constitutionality of the law.
A lawyer in Prince Edward Island is publishing a series of children’s books on the Charter of Rights. Read the CBC story here.
After camping through an Atlantic winter, the Occupy protesters in St. John’s, Newfoundland, have packed up their tents. Read the Globe and Mail story here.
Alberta’s top court has ruled that the University of Calgary’s attempts to discipline two students for criticizing a professor of Facebook amounted to an infringement of their freedom of expression rights.
Justice Marina Paperny, on behalf of the court stated that “the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to the disciplinary proceedings undertaken by the university,” which is a break from previous jurisprudence that affirmed that universities are not government actors within the meaning of section 32 of the Charter. The court also felt the decision was unreasonable from an administrative law perspective.
Justice Brian O’Ferral’s concurrent opinion tried to not overstate the question of whether universities were ‘Charter-free-zones,’ instead focusing on “whether, in disciplining the students for their comments or for their association with the social media site which was critical of one of the university’s sessional lecturers, the university’s disciplinary body, the General Faculties Council, ought to have considered whether its discipline violated the students’ right to freedom of expression and freedom of association.”
Lawyer for the intervening Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Colin Feasby, noted that a university’s autonomy should not be used to avoid Charter scrutiny in its disciplinary processes.
For more information click here.
Conservative MPs on the House Justice Committee have sent a bill banning the use of masks by ‘rioters’ with an increased penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Bill C-309 would make it illegal for those rioting or participating in an ‘unlawful’ protest to conceal their identities. Despite section 351 of the Criminal Code already outlawing the use of a disguise while committing an indictable act, this new legislation would also apply to the non-indictable offence of participating in an ‘unlawful’ protest, giving another means for the police to persecute protestors. NDP MP Françoise Boivin worries that this bill will be “a way to pre-emptively arrest masked protesters, even if they’re peaceful.”
Another concern would arise if police decide to use tear gas and pepper spray to control a demonstration, as they did in the early 2000s in response to the anti-globalization movement. Protestors used vinegar soaked bandanas and gas masks to protect themselves from the toxic fumes. If the police deemed just protests ‘unlawful,’ would the use of protective masks be used as an additional charge to persecute dissent? Unfortunately, the answer is in all likelihood yes.
To read more click here.
The Federal government’s latest cuts target women and contradict a commitment to gender equality. Canada Women’s Health Network reports:
“Staff and directors managing the centres and networks add their voices to the growing body of Canadians who are shocked and outraged by the short-sightedness of the federal government cuts to programs, services and the federal civil service. These cuts are in direct contradiction to the pledges regarding gender equality that Canada has made both in international commitments and to Canadians. Women are being hit particularly hard with these cuts, and, because the research being eliminated generated proactive, preventative strategies for health promotion, these cuts will cost everyone in the long term. The end of this work will be most strongly felt by the disadvantaged and the disempowered.”
Further, “Dr. Liz Whynot, Chair of the Board of Directors of the BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health expressed her concern that ‘This cut threatens the significant work on women’s health that has been undertaken across the country, and represents an enormous loss of capacity to monitor and improve the health of women in Canada, particularly those who are marginalized.’”
Click here to read the press release by the Canadian Women’s Health network.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms turns 30 today. Although the Charter has been used to help advance the struggles and rights of many equality seeking groups, it has done nothing to slow or reverse the growing economic inequality in Canada.
See here for an editorial by West Coast Legal and Education Action Fund (LEAF)’s Legal Director Laura Track on how the Charter fails to protect poor Canadians.
Henry Aubin, an opinion columnist with the Montreal Gazette, suggests that civilian oversight of investigations into police misconduct will save the Quebec government money. And he’s not the only one. The office of the Quebec Ombudsman argues just as much in its detailed critique of Bill 46 (a bill before the National Assembly which aims to reform investigations into police misconduct).
Concerned citizens groups have long demanded such accountability measures. The standard argument is that police forces protect each other and do not adequately investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
Police forces, for their part, have been reticent to accept civilian oversight. And the Quebec government has cited associated costs as an impediment to implementing full civilian oversight. But the Quebec Ombudsman’s report cites a number of factors to support the conclusion that the transitional and operational costs would be minimal. And the pay-off in terms of increased respect for the integrity of the process would be enormous.
Read Henry Aubin’s piece in the Gazette here.
The Quebec Ombudsman’s full report on Bill 46 is available here, and the short summary here.
