Journalists attacked in Canada since 1992
Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high
The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record in 2021. Invoking new tech and security laws, repressive regimes from Asia to Europe to Africa cracked down harshly on the independent press. A CPJ special report by Editorial Director Arlene Getz. Published December 9, 2021 NEW YORK It’s been an especially bleak year…
CPJ, Canadian Association of Journalists call for release of journalists Bracken, Toledano
CPJ and the Canadian Association of Journalists write to express grave concern about the November 19 arrest and ongoing detention of journalists Amber Bracken and Michael Toledano by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
CPJ calls on Canadian police to release detained journalists
Washington, D.C., November 21, 2021—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) Friday arrest and detention of two journalists covering land rights protests in northern British Columbia. Photojournalist Amber Bracken, who was on assignment for the environmental news outlet the Narwhal, and independent documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano were…
CPJ joins call for Canada to impose targeted sanctions on Eritrean officials
The Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday joined 15 other rights organizations, journalists, and human rights experts in a statement calling on the government of Canada to impose targeted sanctions on senior Eritrean officials for human rights abuses, including the 20-year imprisonment of newspaper editor Dawit Isaac and other journalists. “After two decades, the devastating mistreatment…
CPJ welcomes Katherine Jacobsen as U.S. and Canada program coordinator
New York, August 30, 2021–The Committee to Protect Journalists is pleased to announce that Katherine Jacobsen has been named U.S. and Canada program coordinator. Jacobsen will lead CPJ’s work reporting on press freedom in the United States and Canada and head advocacy efforts to improve press freedom in both countries. “I’m delighted that Katherine will…
‘Like an open-air cage’: Police restrict reporters’ access to Canadian anti-logging protests
As demonstrators in the Canadian province of British Columbia protest the logging of one of the province’s last old-growth forests, located in the Fairy Creek watershed on Pacheedaht First Nations territory on Vancouver Island, journalists have been impeded from covering the story. Since May 17, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have enforced an injunction — approved by…
Photojournalist Ian Willms detained while covering police in Toronto
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2021 — Toronto police should explain why they detained photojournalist Ian Willms and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 1:30 p.m. on June 22, police detained Willms, a freelance photojournalist, after he climbed into a fenced-off area while attempting to photograph officers forcing…
Canadian police bar journalists from covering anti-logging protests
Washington, D.C., May 26, 2021 — In response to reports that officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have repeatedly denied journalists access to cover protests against logging on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, the Committee to Protect Journalists today issued the following statement: “We are concerned that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seem to…
Canadian police block reporting on Indigenous land demonstrations
On September 2, 2020, police in Ontario criminally charged Indigenous journalist Karl Dockstader in relation to his reporting on a campaign to oppose a planned housing development in the province’s Haldimand County, he told CPJ by phone. Charges against Dockstader and at least two other Indigenous people who were documenting the campaign were pending in…
Canada denies entry to Danish journalist Kristian Lindhardt covering Indigenous land rights
On August 21, 2020, Canadian immigration authorities at the Vancouver International Airport denied entry to Kristian Lindhardt, a Danish national working on an independent documentary film and freelancing for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation and other outlets, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. Lindhardt said that Canadian…