Dear Members,
As we prepare for NPAC/APPC’s annual general meeting on May 29th, the Board has reflected on the challenges and success of the last 12 months.
When NPAC elected the current Board in May 2021, we were optimistic that, with member support, we could begin to provide additional and necessary support services to Canadian photojournalists.
We are excited to announce the finalists of the 2021 National Pictures of the Year Awards.
Join NPAC and The Camera Store this Thursday Dec. 16th at 6:30pm EST for an interactive 30-minute virtual photography gift guide just in time for the holidays!
NPAC’s Dave Chidley and The Camera Store’s Evelyn Drake will be joined by the News Photographers Association of Canada to talk about what photographers really want, and what they don’t for Christmas.
Registered attendees will be entered to win door prizes during the event.
Register below:
[wpforms id=”33978″ title=”false”]
A crowd of officers, including militarized police, wait in the courtyard outside of the tiny house dwelling as supporters and media are arrested. Photo Amber Bracken/The Narwhal
The News Photographer Association of Canada (NPAC) welcomes its members interested in supporting Amber Bracken’s oncoming legal battle to follow this link to The Narwhal support page: https://thenarwhal.ca/NPAC-donate
You can enter “Support the Amber Bracken legal defence fund” in the “I am contributing because” block or make a general donation to The Narwhal to use the funds to support their operations.
All donations / support sent through this NPAC link will be recorded and tallied as direct support from our members.
— NPAC Board of Directors
Emma Gilchrist, Editor of The Narwhal recently published this summary of the situation:
“…When we sent photojournalist Amber Bracken to Wet’suwet’en territory to report on one of the biggest stories in the country, we didn’t anticipate she’d become part of the story. Then, Friday came: the RCMP arrested Amber and 14 others, including Wet’suwet’en land defenders, as officers enforced an injunction for the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
It should go without saying: journalism is not a crime. Amber was one of the only journalists present to document a story of vital public interest — and the RCMP took her away in handcuffs, despite the fact she clearly identified herself as a journalist.
Amber has finally been released from jail, on the condition she appears on contempt of court charges in February. But we have a long battle ahead of us in defending Amber — and, ultimately, the right for all journalists to report from within injunction zones.
And we need your help: our insurance won’t cover the legal fees for Amber’s ordeal.”
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
-30-
