OTTAWA—Terri-Jean Bedford, the dominatrix who won a Supreme Court battle to overturn Canada’s prostitution laws, was kicked out of a Senate committee Tuesday after she railed against the new anti-prostitution Bill C-36, and threatened to reveal the names of politicians who are clients of prostitutes.

Bedford was expelled by the Conservative chair of the committee, Sen. Bob Runciman, after she argued and interrupted another senator, a Liberal, who was asking her questions. She’d been warned by Runciman to respect the rules.

A few minutes earlier, Bedford had grown increasingly combative and had warned senators to heed critics like her.

Cracking a riding crop, the leather-clad Bedford had explained there were many “levels of choice” — due to poverty and financial need — that drove people enter the sex trade. Then Bedford had this warning:

“I’d also like to say if this law passes, I’m going to make you guys forget about Mike Duffy, because I’ve got more information and more proof on politicians in this country than you can shake a stick at. I promise.”

At that she stopped.

Conservative senators questioned another witness, but a few minutes later when another Liberal senator, Serge Joyal, tried to ask Bedford about the impact of the bill’s ban on third-parties gaining a material benefit from prostitution, whether through advertising or the provision of other services, Bedford grew testy.

She dismissed the bill’s criminalization of the buyer, but not the seller, of sex.

“It’ll make Canada the laughing stock of the world . . . . Why don’t we do that with booze?” she asked. “What does that mean? We can do it through the back door just as long as you don’t know about it? Ask me something important.”

When Joyal pointed out the questions were important if the law could deprive her of her ability to make a living, Bedford snapped:

“I’m gonna do it anyway regardless of what you say or not. If I decide to go back into business I’m gonna do it anyway, I’m going to wind up back here 10 years later. Would you like to know what it costs to get here? You’re going to make me go through this all over again.”

The committee chair warned her, and Bedford retorted to the committee:

“I won. Remember that . . . . What makes you think you’re any brighter than 15 judges?” she said, referring to the number of judges through the Ontario court system up to the Supreme Court of Canada that had ruled in favour of her and two other prostitutes who challenged the laws.

Bedford went on the offensive, dismissing the credibility of other witnesses, government evidence and polls, and snapping that if she were to run for prime minister, “I’d have a sweeping majority.”

Runciman warned her she’d be kicked out.

Bedford, who had introduced herself to senators as “the Bedford in Bedford (versus) Canada,” the victor in the court challenge that led to last December’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling that struck down as unconstitutional three prostitution-related laws, scrambled through her papers to tell the committee she’d spent $500,000 to fight the old law.

It was not immediately clear what costs Bedford was referencing, as much of the legal work in the challenge was done pro bono by lawyer Alan Young with other costs covered by legal aid.

Bedford pleaded for more time to speak.

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“I told myself I’d try to act like a lady while I was here and not a dominatrix,” she said. “One moment, please,” she said. “This is very important.”

“I have (experienced) 30 years of abusive laws so I should be allowed at least five minutes to talk about it. You pet everybody else on the back but when you know I’ve got a bombshell to deliver you want to try to avoid me at all costs.”

But Runciman ordered her out. “We’re not going to cede the floor to you. Sorry, I’m going to adjourn the meeting. We’ll have security remove you from the room if you’re not going to abide by the rules this committee operates under. We ask you to respect the rules of this committee.”

Bedford said: “Yes sir, I apologize but . . . .”

“No,” said Runciman. “No buts.”

“Can I tell you what it cost to fight this fight?”

“No.”

“Half a million dollars. Who’s got half a million dollars?”

With that, Runciman’s gavel came down, and Bedford was expelled. She left, furious.

When she spoke to reporters later she repeated she had embarrassing information to reveal, but didn’t.

Runciman later thanked the other witnesses for their contributions to “this very interesting session.”

At the following session, Valerie Scott, another former prostitute who was part of the Bedford challenge, urged senators to reject the bill in light of the “catastrophic” effects prostitutes fear it will have on their safety.