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Canada
Canadian media organizations welcomed the announcement by the Canada Customs
and Revenue Agency (CCRA) to release a shipment of anti-war videotapes it "detained"
earlier in March. But they expressed their concern about the fact the tapes
were seized in the first place, stating: "Canadians have the right to expect
that the CCRA will not become the filter through which political debate is strained.
The federal government should review CCRA operations to ensure the Agency does
not become a political censor." The two-hour anti-war film, "What
I've Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy," by American documentary producer
Frank Dorrel, was seized by Canada Customs in early March. Much of the footage
was drawn from previously broadcast news footage. Dorrel said he previously
shipped more than 1,000 copies of the tape to Canada.
Canadian free speech defenders protested in February, Bill C-20 -- an Act to
amend the Criminal Code (protection of children and other vulnerable persons)
currently before the House of Commons, as a direct and serious attack on the
freedom to create.
By replacing the extant artistic merit defense against charges of child pornography
with an as-yet-undefined concept of public good, Bill C-20 casts its net far
too wide in its well-intentioned attempt to prevent the abuse of children, leaving
the Criminal Code, if amended as proposed in Bill C-20, open to ludicrous misuse.
"Irrelevant motives" could allow for confiscation of family photos.
With the further traditional common law stipulation that "the motives of
an accused are irrelevant," the bill could, for instance, allow the confiscation
of any family album with photos of unclad babies, and the prosecution of family
photographers.
The groups of free speech are also concerned that the wording of the bill captures,
with its overly broad net, both adults who create work for their own use, and
teens between the ages of 14 (the legal age of sexual consent) and 18 (the age
beyond which there are no restrictions on sexual representations) who choose
to make various sorts of records of their own legal sexual activity. Whereas
the right of 15-year-olds to videotape themselves having sex is hardly a rallying
point, we do not think that doing it, if the 15-year-old decides to, should
be actionable.
In February, Customs officers continued to seize books despite a Supreme Court
ruling Although the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2000 in the case of Vancouver's
Little Sister's bookstore that Canada Customs must prove within 30 days that
any seized imported book, magazine, or video is obscene, the seizures by Canada
Customs have not ceased, nor been justified and are not consistent. In its decision,
the Supreme Court reversed the onus of proof of the material not being obscene
from the importer to Canada Customs having to prove that it was. As a result
of the ongoing books seizures, Little Sister's will return to court in a continuation
of its old fight against censorship.
Journalists should be allowed to attend the preliminary hearing of accused serial
killer Robert William Pickton. "It would be a serious affront to Canadians'
right to know, and to the principle of a free press, if the request to close
the court was granted," Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression
Executive Director Joel Ruimy said.
Pickton is charged with killing 15 women. Publication bans are routinely ordered
in hearings to avoid influencing potential jurors. Journalists usually are permitted
to attend preliminary hearings and collect information to help them cover any
eventual trial. But there are fears that media organizations from outside Canada
may choose to disregard the ban and publish details of the hearing.
Freedom of speech advocates condemned last November the decision by Toronto
police to obtain a warrant to seize raw news footage from the CTV program "W-5"
in November.
The free speech advocates argued that journalists work to inform the public,
not to provide police with free investigative services.
At issue is an interview recorded by W-5 in jail with Salim Danji, awaiting
trial in connection with a case of alleged investment fraud. Police seized tapes
Monday of the entire 1 1/2-hour interview, which had not yet been aired.
Police had not seen the interview and so couldn't know what was in it. But they
obtained the warrant by telling a judge the material could be helpful in their
investigation.
The media groups protested that the seizure was a fishing expedition and that
it endangered the future ability of journalists to gather material because sources
could well conclude that any interviews they give to journalists will end up
in the hands of police.
The free speech defenders noted that police forces across Canada, with the support
of the courts, have aggressively sought a half-dozen times in the last two years
to seize video tapes, notes, photos and other research materials collected by
journalists. This suggests police forces have come to regard the media as their
investigative adjunct; police may be finding it easier to grab media research
than to do their own.
The Diario de Hoy reported that a request for a visa for one of its journalists
who wanted to travel to Canada was delayed for two days. The reporte wanted
to look for information about a company involved in lucrative waste management
corruption in 10 municipalities governed by the FMLN.
The Gleaner company of Jamaica reported that was restricted in its efforts to
publish a weekly, because authorities applied a law saying that foreigners cannot
own media companies in the country.
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