Bill C-309 was passed into law today. This amendment to the criminal law bans the wearing of masks or anything else that obscures one's facial identity during an unlawful assembly.
This means that a news photographer who wears gas mask, googles or bandana to protect themselves during a demonstration, or who wears a neck gaiter to a winter protest, now risks arrest.
Supposedly, police will be able to distinguish between demonstrators/rioters and "legitimate" wearers of (gas) masks. But if you were at the G8/G20 in Toronto, you will know that this is simply not true. At that event, police were unable to recognize news photographers even though they weren't wearing a mask and had police-issued ID hanging from their neck. Even passersby, many blocks away, were arrested just for having a bandana visible.
The politician who introduced this bill, and whom I suspect has never been to a demonstration or riot but perhaps may have seen one on TV, was today quoted as saying, "We can all rest easier tonight knowing our communities have been made safer with its passage." Of course, this is absolute crap. Nothing like a politician trying to win some misguided votes.
Note that it's already illegal to wear a disguise while committing a crime and that law has certainly eliminated bank and store robberies.
Unlawful assembly = at least three people collectively disturbing the peace.