Jolly’s remarks to Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security on November 7, 2024

novembre 7, 2024

Mr. Chair,

Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to address the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

Let me begin my remarks by clearly stating that I support the committee’s study of Russian Interference and Disinformation campaigns in Canada, particularly in the wake of the September 4, 2024 indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice that alleged both surreptitious and clandestine efforts of Tenet Media, a shell company, to disseminate pro-Kremlin talking points via ‘third party’ YouTube influencers.

These revelations are explosive and should immediately dispel any classic Canadian naivete that we are somehow beyond the reach of the tentacles of Russia’s psychological tactics to launder disinformation.

That, however, is not my reason for appearing before this committee today. I am here in my capacity as the president of the Canadian Association of Journalists to address some equally explosive allegations that were made before this committee by a former cabinet minister.

At the Oct. 24 meeting of this committee, Mr. Chris Alexander declared, under the guise of parliamentary privilege I might add, that Mr. David Pugliese has been a paid KGB agent since the 1980s. It is astonishing to me that no other member of this committee posed questions about, or challenged, these patently absurd claims.

On the evening of Oct 24, the Canadian Association of Journalists, a not-for-profit organization that has been in existence for more than 45 years and counts more than a thousand members issued the following statement:

“The CAJ wholeheartedly denounces the ridiculous accusations made against @davidpugliese today.

It’s a sad irony these comments were made in a meeting examining disinformation campaigns. These claims are dangerous & designed to undermine the credibility of journalists. Period. »

I am happy to be here today, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with David to call out these allegations as nothing more than a McCarthy-esque smear job.

Over 40 years David has built a reputation as a reporter who has exposed untold levels of corruption. He has won multiple awards from the CAJ and the National Newspaper Awards, where I currently sit as a governor, for his coverage of defence issues and efforts by government and security agencies to stifle free speech and legitimate protest.

Mr. Pugliese is guilty of being nothing more than a journalist, whose job it is to be a habitual thorn in the side of those in power.

Over four decades, Mr. Pugliese has participated in hundreds of public service investigative projects.

This fact should not be *breaking news*.

Taxpayers deserve to know how public dollars are being spent. And our constitution upholds the role journalists play in serving our democracy.

The accusations you have heard are both dumbfounding and dangerous. They are, regrettably, becoming the new normal. Weaponized disinformation campaigns put journalists in the veritable cross-hairs.

Rather than question the accuracy of reported facts in a story, domestic and transnational interests now attack a journalist’s credibility. If you can’t refute the truth, then the next best action is to attack the messenger.

In a time when newsrooms have thinner and thinner resources, or worse, when an individual targeted is a freelancer, these kinds of attacks are isolating and psychologically taxing. They endanger family members and also send a collective chill across the free expression landscape.

Our foreign adversaries, such as Russia, cheer in collective celebration when we begin to suspect each other.

Disinformation attacks the foundations of our democracy and the individuals who serve it.

I hope members of this committee will carefully reflect on how close-to-home disinformation campaigns can strike. And that they change lives, and damage reputations, in the stroke of a pen.

The Canadian Association of Journalists is the country’s largest professional organization that serves to advance the interests of journalists from coast to coast to coast. The CAJ’s primary roles are public-interest advocacy work and professional development for its members.

For further information: Brent Jolly, president, Canadian Association of Journalists, brent@caj.ca