Monthly Archives: February 2022

For its persistent efforts to impede the free flow of information to the public, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the law enforcement category. The Mounties received an unprecedented double-citation from this year’s jury. The first citation was bestowed on the RCMP for their efforts to impede journalists from covering public opposition to the logging of an old-growth forest at Fairy Creek, on Vancouver Island. In particular, the jury took note of the RCMP’s efforts to obstruct journalists' access to [...]

The CAJ is concerned about recent accounts of police interference with journalists reporting in Ottawa. The following is an open letter from CAJ president Brent Jolly to Ottawa Police Service Chief, Steve Bell. If you are a reporter in need of assistance, please reach out to us.  Dear Mr. Steve Bell, interim Ottawa Police Service Chief, I'm writing to you in my capacity as national president of the Canadian Association of Journalists with some concerns about clear violations of press freedoms that have been shared with me by journalists currently reporting from Ottawa.   As you are aware, journalists have been [...]

Stratford City Council has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the municipal category. For more than two years, the Stratford City Council circumvented basic transparency measures as it held secret in-camera meetings and failed to properly report discussions and planning undertaken with Xinyi Canada Glass, the Canadian subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Xinyi Glass Holdings, to build a gigantic $400 million glass factory in the community.  According to documents provided to the jury, the city’s long-time mayor, Dan Mathieson, wrote to Steve Clark, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs [...]

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) applauds the outstanding efforts of a group of secondary school student journalists to make the Student Press Freedom Act (SPFA) law in British Columbia.  “In a time when institutions are increasingly throwing up roadblocks to prevent journalists, of all ages, from speaking truth to power, the spirit and intent of this bill is a critical step to upholding the fundamental rights to a free press and free expression that are embedded in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” said Brent Jolly, CAJ president.  The SPFA is the product of significant work led by Vancouver-based [...]

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) have released “Poisoned Well,” the troubling findings of an industry roundtable on journalists and online hate.  “Freedom of the press is integral to a healthy democracy,” says Natalie Turvey, CJF President and Executive Director. “The online abuse suffered by too many journalists today goes well beyond critical discourse and, in many cases, harms their safety and well-being in the workplace. This report is a call to action to our industry, government officials and the broader Canadian public.”  The CAJ and Carleton University held the roundtable on Oct. 21, [...]

British Columbia Premier John Horgan, Minister of Citizens’ Services Lisa Beare, and the provincial government of B.C. have been selected as the 2021 recipients of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the provincial category.  The B.C. government was selected as the winner for its efforts to materially harm the public’s right to information through new legislation. On October 18, 2021, the Horgan government introduced Bill 22, an Act to amend B.C.’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.  The legislation was decried by many press freedom advocacy groups before being passed in the [...]

The Canadian Association of journalists (CAJ) is deeply concerned about the alarming rise in harassment and threats against journalists covering the Ottawa occupation protests and similar demonstrations across the country.   “We welcome thoughtful criticism and discussion of journalists’ work but threatening, harassing, physically intimidating, or throwing objects at journalists reporting on these protests has no place in a free country like Canada and is completely unacceptable,” said CAJ president Brent Jolly.  Earlier this week, the House of Commons adopted a motion, under unanimous consent, put forward by Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux that stated: “That the house reaffirm the primordial [...]

Indigenous Services Canada has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the federal category.  Indigenous Services Canada is recognized for its ongoing failure to provide details surrounding test results of drinking water in many Indigenous communities, as well as contracts negotiated with private water companies requested under Canada’s federal Access to Information Act.  Numerous requests have been filed with Indigenous Services Canada over the past several years. The department has not responded to questions about why it has taken so long for records to be released and, even [...]