Efforts by police and politicians to limit public access to recent events in Toronto and on Vancouver Island have shed light on the role of journalists and raised concerns about press freedom.
Toronto authorities’ decision to fence off public parks last month as city staff and police cleared homeless encampments has drawn backlash from media and advocates, who have called on the city to allow journalists on site during operations.
The push for media access in Toronto follows a court ruling ordering the RCMP in British Columbia to allow journalists into the Fairy Creek dams, where demonstrators are protesting ancient logging. The judge in the case, which was launched after journalists reported being blocked from the site, concluded that police should only restrict access if there is an operational or security issue.
In Toronto, the city moved to dismantle several homeless encampments — which emerged during the pandemic as many shelters avoided over fears of COVID-19 — sparking protests and clashes that sometimes turned violent.
The Canadian Association of Journalists called the decision to ban journalists from Toronto parks while clearing camps “disappointing for witnesses and totally unacceptable”, and stressed that media rights are enshrined in law.
“Stop arresting or threatening journalists without valid reason. This is a red line that cannot be crossed,” Brent Jolly, president of the association, said in an email.
Tensions boiled over at Lamport Stadium Park two weeks ago after a large crowd refused to leave the site which authorities had fenced off. Multiple scuffles broke out and police were seen pushing those who did not comply. By the end of the day, police said 26 people had been arrested and charged with offenses including assault with a weapon, assault on a peace officer and trespassing.
A day earlier, an encampment in Alexandra Park had been cleared by city staff and police after a fence was put up. This operation also saw several people arrested, including a Canadian Press photojournalist who was escorted out of the closed area in handcuffs. He received a trespassing notice, which contains no charges but prohibits him from returning to the site for 90 days.
A city spokesperson said staff closed the parks during the clearances and barred anyone from entering, “not just the media,” in order to speak to people living in the encampment, as well as remove tents and trash.
“We understand and appreciate the concerns raised by the media and the role they play in witnessing and documenting city operations,” Brad Ross said in a statement.
He said the city had organized bundled media coverage for the Lamport Stadium operation, which usually allows select members of the media access to an event so they can then share the material they gather with others. others.
“The pool arrangement has been designed to allow the media to view the city’s actions, while ensuring everyone’s safety, as well as taking into account the sensitivity around privacy,” Ross said.
CAJ’s Jolly, however, said coverage of the pool set up by the city for the camp cleanup was “inadequate” because it limited reporters’ ability to “freely cover” evictions taking place in a public park.
“Trying to control the work of journalists while they are doing their job is totally inappropriate,” he said, adding that a pool arrangement is usually used when space for the press is limited.
“The work of journalists is both professional and in the service of the public and any attempt to circumvent this work is totally incompatible with the long tradition of a free press in Canada.
Carissima Mathen, a professor of common law at the University of Ottawa, said it was difficult to mount an effective legal challenge to gain access to “relatively short-term” events, as it is unlikely to be possible to get an injunction in time.
“You may be able to try to plead the case right after the fact to get some sort of statement, but that’s usually not very practical,” she said.
Mathen said it’s important to ask questions such as the distance between police and city personnel when conducting their operations, whether journalists can speak with people when they go out and how long barricades will remain in place.
In the case of Fairy Creek, as had been happening for weeks, those reporters were able to get an injunction to stop the RCMP from barring them from entering the blockades, Mathen said.
Five Toronto councilors who wrote to the city’s mayor last month decrying the “extreme show of force” in clearing the encampments said any obstruction of media access to operations is “undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
—The Canadian Press
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