Canada / Americas

  

Canadian police bar journalists from covering anti-logging protests

Washington, D.C., May 26, 2021 — In response to reports that officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have repeatedly denied journalists access to cover protests against logging on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, the Committee to Protect Journalists today issued the following statement: “We are concerned that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seem to…

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Canadian police block reporting on Indigenous land demonstrations

On September 2, 2020, police in Ontario criminally charged Indigenous journalist Karl Dockstader in relation to his reporting on a campaign to oppose a planned housing development in the province’s Haldimand County, he told CPJ by phone. Charges against Dockstader and at least two other Indigenous people who were documenting the campaign were pending in…

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Canada denies entry to Danish journalist Kristian Lindhardt covering Indigenous land rights

On August 21, 2020, Canadian immigration authorities at the Vancouver International Airport denied entry to Kristian Lindhardt, a Danish national working on an independent documentary film and freelancing for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation and other outlets, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. Lindhardt said that Canadian…

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Canadian private investigative firm compiled reports on journalists

Information and Systems Networks Corporation (ISN), a Canadian private investigative firm, conducted background checks on two journalists at the behest of a law firm, according to one of the journalists, Jesse Brown, the publisher of the Canadaland news website and podcast, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview and shared one page of the…

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Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers leave the Nova Scotia RCMP Headquarters in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on April 20. Journalists in the province have struggled to cover a mass shooting due to COVID-19 containment measures. (Reuters/John Morris)

Halifax Examiner’s Tim Bousquet on covering a mass shooting in a pandemic

When news broke that a gunman had killed at least 22 people in Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19, the Halifax Examiner, a small independent local news website, began piecing together how the deadliest mass shooting in Canada’s history had occurred.

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CPJ calls on Canadian police to allow journalists to freely cover matters of public interest

CPJ writes to the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to express concern at the treatment of journalists covering protests against the construction of a gas pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory, and to urge that the RCMP allow them to do their job and report freely on matters of public interest.

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Police are seen at a demonstration of supporters of the indigenous Wet'suwet'en Nation in Montreal, Canada, on February 25, 2020. Canadian police recently arrested U.S. documentary filmmaker Melissa Cox. (Reuters/Christinne Muschi)

Canadian police arrest journalist and filmmaker Melissa Cox as she reports on rail blockade

Washington, D.C., February 26, 2020 — Canadian authorities should not file charges against journalist and filmmaker Melissa Cox, and should ensure that the press can freely cover matters of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, British then-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and Canadian then-Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland address a news conference on media freedom in Dinard, France on April 5, 2019. A panel of legal experts led by Clooney recommend more sanctions targeted at press freedom violators. (Reuters/Stephane Mahe)

CPJ welcomes call for targeted sanctions to protect journalists

When the U.K. launched an initiative to support media freedom in the waning days of Jeremy Hunt’s tenure as foreign minister, CPJ was skeptical that this government-led effort would be more than a feel-good campaign. However, we chose to engage, given the current vacuum of leadership on press freedom globally. As the U.S. pulls back…

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People block train tracks as part of a protest against British Columbia's Coastal GasLink pipeline, in Tyendinaga, Canada, on February 9, 2020. Police recently obstructed and detained journalists covering the protests. (Reuters/Alex Filipe)

Canadian police detain, obstruct journalists covering raid on pipeline protesters

On February 6, 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that they would begin physically removing protesters, many of whom are members of the indigenous Wet’suwet’en people, from encampments in British Columbia, where they have been demonstrating against the construction of a natural gas pipeline, according to media reports.

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Supporters of the Wet’suwet’en Nation indigenous group, who oppose the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, protest outside the provincial headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, on January 16, 2020. In early February, the RCMP prevented journalists from covering the takeover of an indigenous protest camp. (Reuters/Jesse Winter)

CPJ calls on Canadian police to let journalists work freely at indigenous protest sites

New York, February 7, 2020—In response to news reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) yesterday obstructed journalists trying to cover police operations at indigenous protest camps in British Columbia, the Committee to Protect Journalists today issued the following statement:

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