TORONTO —
While Canada has demonstrated a growing commitment to international press protections, experts say legal battles over sources and an inadequate access to information system remain sticking points for Canadian journalists.
“The biggest problem in Canada is a negative attitude towards being open, a lack of political will to really open up government and to embrace the benefits that that brings,” Toby Mendel, executive director of the Centre of Law and Democracy, told CTV News ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.
Canada ranked 16th in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, which measures the level of media freedom in 180 countries globally, up two points from its 2019 ranking.
The index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders, commended Canada for its growing commitment to international press protections after launching the Media Freedom Coalition alongside the U.K. in July 2019.
However, the report notes that despite using the new federal “shield law” to protect journalists from revealing confidential sources in Supreme Court cases, reporter-source relationships have been threatened during other legal proceedings.
“A VICE national security reporter’s years-long legal battle ended with the Ontario Superior Court [ruling] that he must hand over his private communications with a publicly-named source to the federal police and VICE was forced to comply,” read the report.
“And while the federal police continued to block media access to environmental protests on Indigenous territories, a March 2019 landmark court decision that affirmed special considerations apply to journalists covering these types of events.”
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say World Press Freedom Day is shedding light on how the global health crisis is being used by governments to increase restrictions on press freedoms.
A report released Sunday by the International Press Institute concluded that in both democratic and autocratic states the “public health crisis has allowed governments to exercise control over the media on the pretext of preventing the spread of disinformation.”
The organization said it has documented 162 press freedom violations related to coronavirus coverage over the past two and a half months, almost a third of which have involved the arrest, detention or charging of journalists.
“Freedom of expression and access to information are vitally important, even more so during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Journalists are working tirelessly on the front lines, at home, and abroad to report on a rapidly evolving global health crisis,” read a statement issued by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday.
“A free-thinking, independent, and respected media is the cornerstone of any democracy. One cannot exist without the other. That is why Canada continues to defend press freedom and condemn all attempts to stifle the press.”
– With files from the Associated Press
