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Canada's Largest Media Union Calls on PM Harper to End Gagging of News Media |
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Written by Wire Services
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Wednesday, 29 March 2006 |
Canada's largest media union is calling on all members of Parliament to hold Prime Minister Harper accountable for his "undemocratic" and "frightening" attempts at gagging the news media by denying them access to Cabinet Ministers.
"Stephen Harper is threatening the critical democratic flow of information by closing doors to Canada's news outlets," said Peter Murdoch, secretary-treasurer and media vice-president of the 150,000 member Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) in a statement today.
"Mr. Harper has decided to gag our national media. As representatives of Canadian journalists, we are alarmed at this tactic. It smacks of totalitarianism, not the democratic process we are used to in this country," Mr. Murdoch said. "We think all MPs should be equally upset and arrange for the appropriate Committee of the House of Commons to call the Prime Minister to task.
"Mr. Harper clearly is concerned with the quality of his Cabinet, but the quality of the democratic flow of give-and-take between journalists and Parliamentarians should not be a victim of that lack of confidence."
Murdoch said that while there is little in a formal way the media can do, CEP is considering its options in a more public forum and decided to launch a challenge to all Parliamentarians to take a leadership role.
"Access to elected officials is essential to accountability. The media is accustomed to news management and spin, but hiding ministers from reporters is bizarre as practice and frightening as policy," Mr. Murdoch said.
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