Investigative magazine The Narwhal has filed a lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after the arrest of one of their photojournalists who covered protests against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in the Wet’suwet Territory in November 2021.
The freelance photojournalist was covering British Columbia’s Wet’suwet’en community’s fight for the “narwhal” when she was arrested and jailed for three days. The charges against her were dropped a month later.
“Amber Bracken’s arrest should never have happened. Unfortunately, the RCMP’s abuse of Amber is just one incident among many that demonstrates the Canadian police’s disregard for freedom of the press,” said the magazine’s editor-in-chief and co-founder, Carol Linnitt, in a press conference.
The outlet and photojournalist on Monday filed a lawsuit against the RCMP in BC Supreme Court for wrongful arrest and detention and violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“The lawsuit we filed this morning is designed to ensure that there are real consequences for police when they violate the constitutional rights of journalists,” said the magazine’s executive director and co-founder, Emma Gilchrist.
The arrest of Amber Bracken, who claims to have duly identified herself as a journalist, took place in an area that was the subject of an injunction to control protesters. In 2019, however, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal ruled that journalists cannot be subject to an injunction while conducting their duties.
“As a small, non-profit media company, Narwhal certainly didn’t want to face an expensive legal battle against one of the most powerful organizations in the country, but ultimately we realized we had no choice. Not to proceed with this lawsuit would be to turn your back on what is right,” she continued.