{"id":14911,"date":"2022-02-22T16:03:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T21:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caj.ca\/?p=14911"},"modified":"2022-10-18T17:33:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T21:33:58","slug":"out-of-sight-but-not-out-of-mind-laying-bare-the-rcmps-efforts-to-evade-public-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caj.ca\/fr\/out-of-sight-but-not-out-of-mind-laying-bare-the-rcmps-efforts-to-evade-public-transparency\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of sight, but not out of mind: Laying bare the RCMP’s efforts to evade public transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mounties received an unprecedented double-citation from this year\u2019s 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 <\/span>Fairy Creek<\/span><\/a>, on Vancouver Island. In particular, the jury took note of the RCMP\u2019s efforts to obstruct journalists’ access to the area through the use of illegal exclusion zones and other methods of obstruction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis summer multiple journalists, equipped only with pens, notebooks and camera equipment, were treated like criminals by the RCMP as they did their job, which was to document police activities and to tell a story of significant public interest,\u201d said Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s Code of Silence jury agreed that the efforts demonstrated by the RCMP to suffocate press freedom and the public\u2019s right to know about events taking place at Fairy Creek deserves the spotlight.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Late last year, Fairy Creek surpassed <\/span>Clayoquot Sound<\/span><\/a> as the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, as nearly 1,200 arrests have been made. Reports from December 2021 reveal the <\/span>RCMP has spent nearly $9 million<\/span><\/a> enforcing a court injunction at Fairy Creek \u2014 enforcement which saw journalists erroneously <\/span>obstructed<\/span><\/a> from accessing the area to report on the story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In July, the CAJ, in partnership with a coalition of news organizations, applied to modify the injunction instructing the RCMP not to interfere with journalists\u2019 access absent a bona fide operational reason for doing so. <\/span>The request was granted<\/span><\/a> by the B.C. Supreme Court, with the presiding justice reminding the RCMP of the media\u2019s \u201cspecial role in a free and democratic society, and the necessity of avoiding undue and unnecessary interference with the journalistic function.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Code of Silence jury also awarded the RCMP a second citation for its outstandingly poor performance with respect to adhering to the rules of Canada\u2019s federal Access of Information Act.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the materials provided to this year\u2019s jury, the RCMP performed among the worst federal agencies in fulfilling access to information requests in accordance with mandated timelines. In its deliberations, the jury reviewed multiple examples of requests that exceeded the legislated 30-day time limit and where the agency failed to provide notice of time extensions, in direct contravention of Canada\u2019s Access to Information Act.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe unwillingness of the RCMP to meet basic requirements of transparency\u2014to which they are legally obligated\u2014is sadly nothing new,\u201d said Jolly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The force was <\/span>recognized <\/span><\/a>for its excessive secrecy in 2017, after failing to respond to a single request for information filed under the Access to Information Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity that lies at the feet of users, however, is to work together to re-imagine what a better, functional, and more transparent system, with teeth, would look like \u2014 and to push those plans forward is long past due,\u201d said Jolly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Code of Silence Awards are presented annually by the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University (CFE), and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). The intent of the awards is to call public attention to government or publicly-funded agencies that work hard to hide information to which the public has a right to under access to information legislation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This award completes this year\u2019s Code of Silence program. In addition to the RCMP, <\/span>Stratford City Council<\/span><\/a> (municipal), the <\/span>provincial government of British Columbia<\/span><\/a> (provincial), and <\/span>Indigenous Services Canada<\/span><\/a> (federal) headlined this year\u2019s <\/span>winners<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For further information, please contact:\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Brent Jolly<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

President, Canadian Association of Journalists<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

brent@caj.ca<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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