WINDSOR (CUP) - She's Canada's lady in leather, mistress of misery, queen of the court room and a sex-positive political powerhouse.

Her name is Terri-Jean Bedford, or, as she is known by her clientele, Madame de Sade, and she is the most famous dominatrix in Canada after fighting for the rights of sex workers in the Supreme Court of Canada, and winning.

In December 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down three prostitution laws against keeping a brothel, living off the avails of prostitution and street soliciting after Amy Lebovitch, sex-trade worker and executive director of Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), and Valerie Scott, legal co-ordinator for SPOC, challenged the courts alongside Bedford.

January 22, less than a month after winning this lengthy court battle, which went through a series of appeals before going to the highest federal court in the country, Bedford traveled to her home town of Windsor and appeared at the University of Windsor for a rare public talk. And she absolutely dominated.

“How many of you saw me on television last month? One of the things I said was that Prime Minister Harper offered me an appointment to the Senate, as a government whip,” she began her speech. “Well, today, here in my home town of Windsor, I am declining his offer.

“You see, it seems Senators are always in trouble with the police and I've had enough of that.”

Bedford paused shortly to commend the university for the “growth” that has occurred in women's studies and social justice departments and said that she was grateful for the attention that was brought to her legal battles in various courses.

Before 2010, according to Bedford, the federal government tried to impose harsher penalties “for laws that were themselves clearly illegal, such as the bawdy house law.”

Her first victory came in 2010 when the first decision to strike down the laws was made. An intent to file an appeal, however, was announced within three hours - there were clearly more hurdles in Bedford's path.

The matter was brought before the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2012, but was appealed again, bringing the case to the Supreme Court.

“Now...are you going to accept anything, anything these guys come up with?” asked Bedford.

She accused the prime minister of cowardly shrugging away the rights of women, saying “Mr. Harper was doing what organized crime and bad pimps wanted him to do, which is to keep women underground and subject to blackmail and potential harm.”

“If [Harper] is really concerned about the welfare of women, why does he not speak out about wifebeating, which is a national epidemic, or about divorced fathers who can, but don't, pay child support?” she asked.

Bedford added that “a real man protects poor women and children” instead of undermining “groups which promote human rights and address matters that affect women.”

Before challenging the laws directly, Bedford appeared in court on several occasions.

In 1994, her “Bondage Bungalow” in Thornhill, On., where she catered to adult fantasies but did not offer sex for sale, was raided by 15 York police officers. The raid was highly publicized at the time and it took approximately four years to reach a conclusion — Bedford was convicted and fined $3,000.

The following year, Bedford reopened her business in downtown Toronto. She soon sought to appeal, but in one of the most controversial decisions to ever be made at the Ontario Court of Appeal, was rejected.

“To this day, I cannot tell you what my crime was back then,” said Bedford to a crowded room. “The laws as they were written were so vague and arbitrary in their enforcement that they were unconstitutional.”

Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, doctor of sociology and associate dean of research and graduate studies for the faculty of arts and social sciences, focuses her research on sexual rights and citizenship and HIV prevention. She was an expert witness in one of Bedford's earlier trials.

Maticka-Tyndale began planning the talk in the fall when she was alerted that Bedford would be returning to her home town, coincidentally, before the ruling was expected from the Supreme Court. In a fortunate surprise, the ruling was handed down earlier than expected on December 20, 2013.

“We figured she would be here just before [the ruling],” explained Maticka-Tyndale. “That was just luck.”

Parliament now has a year to introduce new legislation to replace the current ones, which have repeatedly been deemed too vague.

Canadian Justice Minister Peter MacKay released a statement following the ruling which read, “We are reviewing the decision and are exploring all possible options to ensure the criminal law continues to address the significant harms that flow from prostitution to communities, those engaged in prostitution, and vulnerable persons.”

Maticka-Tyndale explained that the decisions made by government in the next year will ultimately determine the state of sex work in the country for years to come.

“These laws are done at the end of this year,” said Maticka- Tyndale. “They may be replaced by other laws, they may be replaced by no laws...we don't know.”

She said that while there is some fight left while the legislation is debated, the Supreme Court was very clear in telling the government that “these laws are vague, unclear, cover too much, and do not accomplish what [the government] says they are designed to accomplish,” according to Maticka-Tyndale.

“What they said is, whatever new laws you bring in have to be far clearer and precise with clarity of definitions,” she explained.