Day of Action calls for protections for journalists

A Day of Action set for February 25 will call for an end to mass surveillance, repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Act and new legislation to protect activists, whistleblowers and journalists.
The Day of Action was originally to have taken place February 4, but was delayed to avoid conflicts with mass demonstrations against U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban barring citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries from entered the United States, and because of shootings at a Quebec City mosque earlier that week.
Organized by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Vice Media Canada, the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec, Leadnow, CWA/SCA Canada, Rabble.ca, OpenMedia, Unifor and Reporters Without Borders, the Day of Action is planned to include demonstrations across the country.
Gatherings are currently planned for Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, St. John’s and London, Ont. Several hundred people are expected at the Toronto event in Trinity-Bellwoods Park, said Duncan Pike, campaigns and advocacy co-ordinator at CJFE.
The organizers say they are concerned about police spying on several journalists in Quebec ,  spying on Indigenous activists by the RCMP and ongoing rights abuses against Muslims. Another concern is the RCMP’s attempt to obtain notes and other information from Vice News reporter Ben Makuch concerning interviews he conducted with Farah Shirdon, a Canadian member of the Islamic State. Another is charges   against Justin Brake, editor of TheIndependent.ca, for breaking a court injunction while covering protests in Labrador.
“An accumulation of events over the past year,” prompted the Day of Action, said Margaux Ewen, advocacy and communications coordinator for the North American office of Reporters Without Borders in Washington, D.C. “We want to help amplify these issues in Canada because if these kinds of issues can happen in Canada they can happen anywhere.”
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