Freedom of the Press

On November 30, 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision in the closely watched VICE appeal.  The big question at the heart of VICE was simple:  when will courts compel the media to give police material relating to a journalist’s previously published communications with non-confidential sources for the police to use against those sourc

CFE et al. Intervener Factum - Supreme Court of Canada – Journalist-Source Privilege

Welcome to the club, Canada.  On October 18, 2017, we joined the ranks of nearly every other Western democracy when Bill S-231 – the Journalistic Sources Protection Act (“JSPA”) – was finally passed into law, codifying a set of important protections for journalists and their sources. 

Nominations for the PEN Canada/Ken Filkow Prize have just opened. This $1,000 annual prize celebrates champions of free expression in Canada. The deadline for nominations is August 8, 2017. Nominees may be anyone ­– authors, journalists, public servants, scientists, professors, business people, editors, publishers, organizations and concerned citizens – whose work has advanced freedom of expression in Canada.

As local newspapers across Canada are being downsized or shut down and the discussion increasingly turns to addressing the growing problem of fake news (indeed, the U.S. President calls any information he doesn’t like “fake”), there are still local newspapers valiantly determined to inform their communities and to speak truth to power.