Advocacy

UPDATE: Please see PDF for response from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Sept. 1, 2022 The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A2 Delivered by email Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, We are writing in relation to the increasing and alarming online hate and harassment targeting journalists and journalism as a profession. This is a global problem, which threatens not only the safety and well-being of journalists, but the proper functioning of democracy itself. Many countries are now working on plans to fight back. We are calling on Canadian police and policymakers to do [...]

WINNIPEG, MB, August 12, 2022 /CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists is disturbed by new information about a neo-Nazi plot to kill a Winnipeg Free Press journalist, and calls on the RCMP to clarify what information it had obtained from U.S. police and what steps it took to investigate the murder plot. In 2019, Ryan Thorpe went undercover to expose Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Mathews as a member of neo-Nazi group The Base. Mathews subsequently fled to the U.S., where he was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison for weapons charges and plotting violence. This week, [...]

Dear Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell and Toronto Police Chief James Ramer, With copies to: David Lametti, Minister of Justice Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety Pablo Rodriquez, Minister of Canadian Heritage Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Brenda Lucki, Commissioner of the RCMP Doug Downey, Attorney General of Ontario We are writing in relation to several police reports filed in Ottawa and Toronto by journalists or columnists for the Toronto Star, The Hill Times and Global News over an incident of online abuse naming a contributor associated with each of these organizations. For the [...]

July 11, 2022- The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is pleased to announce that 199 media outlets have committed to participating in the 2022 Canadian Newsroom Diversity Survey, a landmark annual snapshot of the country’s media demographics. The survey measures the race and gender of journalists working in newsrooms nationwide. Last year, the CAJ collected data on 3,873 journalists working at 209 media outlets. So far this year, 143 media outlets have completed the survey ahead of the Friday, July 29 deadline, and another 56 news organizations have committed to providing data on the composition of their newsrooms. “Media outlets [...]

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) will be offering free membership for a period of up to three years to any Afghan journalist who left Afghanistan after May 1, 2021 and settled in Canada.  The CAJ has spoken up in the past about Canada’s obligation to support Afghan journalists, many of whom have risked their personal safety to help Canadian reporters bear witness and report safely during the Afghan conflict. We continue to work with several industry partners to urge the federal government to fulfill its promises and to do everything in its power to provide safe passage to those [...]

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) continue to press the federal government to cut unnecessary ‘red tape’ and uphold its obligation to support Afghan journalists, and support workers, who risked their personal safety to help Canadian reporters bear witness and report safely during the nearly two decade-long conflict.  On August 20, the CAJ and CJFE, with the support of dozens of news organizations and other press freedom groups, first called on the federal government to provide safe passage to Afghan journalists who have helped Canadians. Over the past two weeks, members of our [...]

Over the past several days, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) have been working, with the support of multiple Canadian news organizations, to inform the federal government of their duty to support Afghan journalists and support staff who made our work possible. The return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan has placed many residents of that country in grave danger. Among them are dozens of courageous Afghans who worked tirelessly to help Canadian journalists cover this tragic story over two decades. Their bravery and commitment must not be forgotten. They provided [...]