Canada

Passage in June of amendments in Newfoundland and Labrador province to the Access to Information and Privacy Act created several new ways for the government to refuse or further delay requests for official information and was seen as a further setback to the press obtaining such information. The organization Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) in its Free Expression Review issued on September 24 accused the Stephen Harper federal administration of appearing to be willing to “invoke national security at the drop of a hat” to withhold documents from the press and urged it to live up to promises of access reforms, accountability and transparency. This was the third year in a row the federal government had received a failing grade on freedom of expression, the report – which coincided with Canadian Right to Know Week – stated, with only half of requests for official information being complied with within the statutory 30-day deadline. Another negative for press freedom during this period was a continuation by the government of its prevention of federally-funded scientists from speaking with the media about their research, even when such research has already been published in peer-reviewed journals. The CJFE in its report said that the Internet, which it called a game-changing tool, was also facing challenges, with Canada failing to do its part to protect the digital rights of its citizens. It referred to a legislative bill which if passed would allow police to obtain personal information from Internet service providers without a warrant. But there was some good news on this: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that emergency wiretapping by police without a warrant is unconstitutional and in rulings on defamation gave greater protection to journalists. In April, a reporter and a photographer with the Montreal newspaper La Presse were arrested, had their equipment seized and were detained for a couple of hours while covering a demonstration by students outside the Education Minister’s office over planned tuition fee hikes. The mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, called on police to bring charges against Toronto Sun reporter Daniel Dale and that he be taken off the city hall beat after he accused the mayor of having confronted him physically as he was photographing a piece of land next to the mayor’s home that the mayor intended to buy. The head of Radio-Canada’s head of investigative journalism, Pierre Sormany, was suspended after posting a comment on Facebook about another journalist, political columnist Jean Lapierre, charging that he was linked to organized crime. Lapierre has filed a defamation suit, claiming $250,000 in damages. The Montreal Gazette was reported to have suspended reporter Anne Sutherland for three days in May for posting on Twitter comments about a student demonstration, calling it a “nearly naked” protest. The newspaper declined to confirm the suspension, citing confidentiality.