The News Photographers Association of Canada is questioning the motives behind the RCMP tracking journalists in an active investigation database.
The B.C. courts revealed another disturbing layer around the arrest of award-winning photojournalist Amber Bracken and documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano during their court appearance on Nov. 20.
On Nov. 19, the visual journalists were arrested during the RCMP’s civil enforcement of an injunction related to land defenders impeding the progression of the Coastal Gas Link (CGL) projects near Houston, B.C., at the Gidimt’en camp in Wet’suwet’en territory.
On assignment for The Narwhal, Bracken had extensively covered the protest since 2020 and was well known to RCMP as an accredited journalist.
Emma Gilchrist, The Narwhal’s editor-in-chief, publicly stated she was concerned to learn RCMP were tracking Bracken’s activity in an active investigations database. She said Bracken always conducted herself as a professional journalist and the RCMP had no excuse or reason to actively track journalists’ actions.
In a statement posted online late Monday afternoon, Eric Stubbs, RCMP assistant commissioner, denied arresting anyone for being a journalist or doing their job.
“The RCMP’s relationship with the media is based on mutual respect and professionalism,” wrote Stubbs. “Our expectation is the media identify themselves as soon as possible, and it is our obligation to ensure they have fair and safe access to observe and report.”
The statement alleges during a 60-minute dialogue between land defenders and RCMP, the journalists failed to identify themselves, only speaking up once police forced open the door to the small structure everyone was in and making arrests.
At the hearing, the CGL lawyer alleged Bracken made no effort to identify herself as a media member.
Narwhal’s lawyer, David F. Sutherland, shot back Bracken’s identification was prominently visible on her. In addition, she was well known to the RCMP as a journalist working in the area.
Through affidavits submitted by RCMP Cst Benjamin Laurie, the court proceedings revealed queries were conducted on Bracken and Toledano Nov. 19 through the Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME).
PRIME contains specific entity particulars such as birth dates, telephone numbers, addresses, police investigations, originating agency and complete police investigational reports. Laurie noted both journalists had previous police interactions, but neither had a criminal record.
On Nov. 21, Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino tweeted he was aware of and concerned that two journalists remained in custody following the civil enforcement of an injunction related to the CGL project.
“Journalists play a role that is essential and fundamental to our democracy,” he tweeted. “To fulfill that role, journalists must be able to work free from threats, intimidation or arbitrary state action.”
Mendicino went on to say the RCMP’s role is to uphold the law, ensure public safety and respect the rights of Canadians, including journalists.
“As the courts have held, it would be wrong for any journalist to be arrested and detained simply for doing their vital work on our behalf,” he continued.
As a condition of bail, Bracken was released and agreed to follow the long list of rules laid out in the injunction, which was aimed to prevent actively obstructing the construction. As a result, Bracken will be able to enter the exclusion zone and continue her work. However, she must also appear in court on Feb. 14 to face a hearing regarding contempt of court charges.
Sutherland said, “there’s no allegation at all against Amber Bracken which would indicate a breach of the injunction. We absolutely categorically deny any breach.”
With files from The Narwhal, The New York Times
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