The literature on public participation suggests that engaging the public in policy‐making empowers citizens and enhances democracy. Drawing on conditions of “authentic” participation derived from this literature, this critical analysis shows that the public consultation said to have informed Canada's new prostitution laws served to legitimize the governing party's policy orientation. The contribution of this article is twofold: providing an in‐depth, critical account of how a public participation process can endorse elected officials’ values; and identifying factors that may be associated to this outcome. Ultimately, this article shines the spotlight on a force often neglected in the public participation literature: power.

No abstract