eNewsletter • SPRING 2018

CWA Canada fights for press freedom

CWA Canada, long accustomed to defending press freedom worldwide, is stepping up its vigilance on the home front because of a growing number of incursions.

The actions against journalists who are just trying to do their jobs or protect their sources have come from government officials, the judiciary or police at municipal, provincial and federal levels.

“As a media union, we will speak out loudly to protect freedom of expression and the role of a free press as a pillar of democracy,” said CWA Canada President Martin O’Hanlon.

“As journalists, we must fight any attempt by anyone, especially authorities, to interfere with freedom of the press.”

CWA Canada is a partner in a coalition that has been granted intervener status in a case involving VICE reporter Ben Makuch. The union represents workers at VICE Canada through its biggest Local, the Canadian Media Guild.

In March 2017, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a production order issued by the RCMP against Makuch to hand over all communications between him and an alleged terrorist. VICE appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC) and a hearing is scheduled for May 23.

O’Hanlon called the court ruling “bad news for journalism and for democracy” and committed the union to continuing the fight to the highest court in the land.

“Police have an important job to do in protecting us from crime, but they cannot expect journalists to do that job for them,” said O’Hanlon. “The media is not, nor should it ever be, an arm of the state.”

Another case that also could make its way to the SCOC is that of investigative journalist Marie-Maude Denis. Her employer, Radio-Canada, will appeal a Quebec Superior Court ruling from late March that orders her to reveal her source in a corruption trial.

In response to the ruling, O’Hanlon said: “It’s frustrating that this sort of thing continues to happen, especially with the passage of federal legislation in 2017 that recognizes the right of journalists to protect their sources.

“It is vital for free speech and democracy that journalists guard the anonymity of their sources. If not, sources, including whistleblowers, will be far less likely to talk to journalists knowing that they could be identified and punished. The result? Canadians will be blocked from important information and stories about matters of vital public interest.”

On the same day as the Denis ruling, Quebec prosecutors said they would be dropping a criminal harassment case against another Radio-Canada reporter, Antoine Trépanier, who was arrested by Gatineau police for seeking comment from the subject of a story.

CWA Canada had strongly condemned the police action a week earlier.

“It is outrageous that a journalist would be arrested for doing his job and asking questions,” O’Hanlon said. “This sort of thing cannot be allowed in a democracy.”

Also in March, a provincial court judge ruled that criminal charges would proceed against reporter Justin Brake, who followed protesters into the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric construction site in October 2016. He was working for TheIndependent.ca at the time.

Brake is facing charges of mischief and disobeying a court order, along with civil contempt proceedings in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court.

Tom Henheffer, executive director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), condemned the proceedings against Brake.

“This is a serious threat to press freedom. This is a well-known tactic, that they can prevent coverage by saying journalists can’t come in. We know that the RCMP has a long history of brutality when it comes to Indigenous protesters, so it’s critically important to have a journalist there as an observer. Journalists need to be able to do their jobs.”

In December, St. Catharines Standard reporter Bill Sawchuk was removed by police from Niagara Region headquarters and his notes and equipment seized by regional staff after someone allegedly recorded an in-camera meeting.

O’Hanlon declared it “an outrageous and illegal assault on press freedom. We demand an immediate investigation and legal action against whoever is responsible.”

Regional officials returned Sawchuk’s materials and apologized the next day. The NDP MPP for Welland said she asked the Minister of Municipal Affairs to investigate.