Canada: CFWIJ condemns the ongoing institutional overreaches by the RCMP at Fairy Creek

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June 16, 2021, Vancouver Island- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has routinely intimidated journalists and restricted the access of the press from covering the protests of The Rainforest Flying Squad. The protest began against logging of an old-growth forest in the region last year, and have been successful in blocking the action since. This, however, has not stopped violations of civil liberties as armed forces carry out arbitrary arrests and bully journalists covering the proceedings. 

On June 15, photojournalist Jen Osborne was prevented from covering the events at Fairy Creek. In a tweet, she claimed that she was denied access to ensure that the police brutality against protestors remains under wraps.

She followed this tweet up with another to raise alarm on the deteriorating state of press freedoms that are a result of the power RCMP is being allowed to exert in the region. 

Jen Osborne’s fears are valid. This is not the first time such restrictions have been enacted by the RCMP at Fairy Creek. Last month, on May 17, Jen Osborne revealed that the armed officers had led her on a wild goose chase in order to prevent her from covering the protests. When she returned on May 19, to continue her work, she found the environment to be fairly hostile. The journalist reported to CFWIJ that the RCMP had granted access to advocacy journalists who were “particularly belligerent and problematic”, making the situation considerably more difficult for the other journalists present. The advocates were adamantly defending press freedom as a means of protest, but it inevitably interfered with the journalists trying to report on the blockade and the related arrests.  The RCMP contained all of the journalists for most of the day, at a distance.  Jen disclosed that they were too far away to capture any decent footage or photographs.

The overreaches by RCMP have become quite notorious causing the Canadian Association of Journalists, to criticize the broad scope of powers granted to the RCMP by legal authorities. These overreaches were also observed when In February, Brandi Morin was intimidated by RCMP officers when she tried to visit the Unist’ot’en Healing Camp. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned about the restrictions on the media and the arrests of those protesting the environmental violence in the region. The Canadian state should reign in the powers given to the RCMP in order to ensure protection of the democratic values it claims to stand by.