Advocacy

TORONTO, ONT., May 8, 2024 / CNW/ - Canada’s Department of National Defence has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the federal Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy for taking three years to respond to an access request by an Ottawa researcher who inquired about the cost of a controversial program to build new Canadian warships. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux has estimated the cost to taxpayers of the ship-building contract, which would see 15 new warships built for the Royal Canadian Navy as part of the Canadian Surface Combatant program, will be about $84 [...]

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) calls on Montreal police to immediately drop the ‘mischief’ charge levied against Savanna Craig, a journalist with CUTV, who was covering a protest at a downtown bank earlier this week. Craig attended the protest on Monday after receiving a tip from a source. On numerous occasions, she explained to Montreal police officers that she was attending the protest as a journalist. When questioned by officers about her affiliation, she provided agents with a press pass that showed her name, the name of her employer, her job title, a photo, and a bar code that [...]

Remarks by Brent Jolly to the House of Commons Heritage Committee on Feb 27, 2024:"Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to provide you with my comments on the current crises (I use plural, here) facing the Canadian media industry.Je m'adresse à vous aujourd'hui en tant que président de l'Association canadienne des journalistes (ACJ). Pour ceux des membres de ce comité qui ignoreraient, l'ACJ est la voix des journalistes canadiens de tous les types de médias à l'échelle nationale et représente plus de 1000 membres à travers le pays.For nearly a half century, the CAJ’s mission has been at the [...]

Winnipeg, MB, Feb 26, 2024/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is deeply disappointed by the decision of a Manitoba judge that examined a 2017 incident where the camera of Winnipeg Sun photojournalist Chris Procaylo was seized by Winnipeg Police without a warrant. “This decision is a chilling response that brings into focus the very precarious situations journalists face in interactions with police while covering breaking public interest news stories,” said Brent Jolly, president of the CAJ. On December 2, 2017, Procaylo investigated reports of a person causing havoc at a Main Street business and arrived to find a [...]

TORONTO, ON, Feb 22, 2024/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) Newsroom Diversity Survey is back for a fourth consecutive year. “The 2023 diversity survey set a high-bar as it collected the most comprehensive sample of newsroom demographic data ever compiled in Canadian media history,” said Brent Jolly, CAJ president. “Our challenge for 2024 is ambitious: to gather more and more data to better understand the progress being made by industry to ensure that newsrooms reflect the diversity, equity, and inclusiveness of the communities they serve.” Previous versions of the Newsroom Diversity Survey can be found on our website: [...]

TORONTO, ON/Feb. 6, 2024 - The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) was extremely disappointed by Friday’s unanimous landmark decision rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada that will ensure Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s 2018 mandate letters to his then-incoming cabinet ministers will remain under lock and key. “This entire ordeal has made a complete mockery of the idea of government’s proactively disclosing information to the public to whom they are ultimately accountable,” said Brent Jolly, CAJ president. “The decision by the Supreme Court of Canada basically gives governments a green light to keep the public in the dark.” The decision [...]

Today at 11:30 a.m. MT there will be a media availability outside the Edmonton Police Headquarters with journalist Brandi Morin and lawyer Richard Mirasty.  Morin will report to be fingerprinted at 11 a.m. She and lawyer Richard Mirasty will address the media outside of the building at 11:30.  On January 10, Morin, an award-winning Indigenous journalist, was arrested and charged with obstruction for doing her job, while reporting on an Edmonton Police raid on an Indigenous encampment.  In a press conference yesterday, the Canadian Association of Journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Borders, Indigenous Journalists Association, Coalition for Women [...]

National and international journalism community unites to denounce arrest and charge At a press conference held earlier today, more than a half-dozen pre-eminent press freedom groups joined in calling for the charges of obstruction to be dropped against journalist Brandi Morin, who was arrested in Edmonton earlier this month while reporting on a police raid on an unhoused encampment. Representatives of the Canadian Association of Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the Indigenous Journalists Association, the Coalition for Women in Journalism, Journalists for Human Rights, PEN Canada and Amnesty International united in calling for the [...]

Good morning – or good afternoon – depending on wherever you are joining us for this press conference today.   My name is Brent Jolly and I’m the president of the Canadian Association of Journalists.  Let me begin by saying how disappointed I am that this press conference is even needed today. It’s an incredibly sad reflection on the current state of press freedom in Canada. But, alas, here we are.  On January 10, journalist Brandi Morin was arrested by the Edmonton police while reporting on a raid at a primarily Indigenous encampment for the unhoused.  Let me be blunt: Based [...]

TORONTO, ON. Jan. 19, 2024/CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) demands that all national, provincial and regional law enforcement agencies swiftly implement enforceable policies that will prevent journalists from being improperly arrested or detained. Within the past month, multiple Canadian journalists have been arrested or forcibly detained while reporting from the field.  Last Wednesday, while on assignment for Ricochet Media, freelance journalist Brandi Morin was arrested by the Edmonton Police Service while conducting interviews at a downtown Edmonton encampment site. Morin was charged with obstruction, fingerprinted, and released on a promise to appear in court on Feb. 1.   [...]