News outlet, journalist suing RCMP after 2021 arrest at B.C. pipeline protest camp - Action News
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British Columbia

News outlet, journalist suing RCMP after 2021 arrest at B.C. pipeline protest camp

Photojournalist Amber Bracken was on assignment for news outlet The Narwhal when she was arrested in November 2021 during police action against opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipeline being built west of Prince George, B.C.

Amber Bracken was on assignment for news outlet The Narwhal when she was detained in Nov. 2021

A woman stands at a podium.
Photojournalist Amber Bracken announced outside B.C. Supreme Court on Feb.13, 2023 that she and news outlet The Narwhal are suing the RCMP after she was arrested attempting to cover conflict over the Coastal GasLink pipeline project on Wetsuweten territory west of Prince George, B.C. in November 2021. (YouTube/The Narwhal)

A freelance photojournalistwho was arrested in November 2021at a resistance campestablished by opponents ofthe Coastal GasLink pipeline west of Prince George, B.C., announced Monday that she, along with the news outlet The Narwhal,havefiled a lawsuit against the RCMPin the wake of the incident.

During a press event outside B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver, AmberBracken and editorial leaders from The Narwhal said thatthey are suing the Mounties for wrongful arrest, wrongful detention and violation of Charterrights.

"I felt kidnapped," said Bracken. "My role is to witness events. I have to be present."

The Edmonton-based journalist wason assignmentfor TheNarwhal on Wet'suwet'en territory when she was arrested, alongside multiple project protesters anddocumentary filmmaker Michael Toledano, as policesought to enforce an injunctionallowing pipeline construction to move forward.

Toledano was working on a documentary commissioned by CBC's The Passionate Eye at the time of his arrest.

The public broadcaster is not involved in the lawsuit filed Monday.

In an emailed response to questions about if the CBC was planning any legal action of its own, and for reaction to The Narwhal's lawsuit, Chuck Thompson, head of CBC public affairs, declined to weigh in.

"Given our publicly stated concern in December of 2021 over the arrests of Amber [Bracken] and Michael [Toledano], we were obviously relieved and pleased to hear the civil contempt charges against them had been dropped early in 2022," said Thompson.

"This particular lawsuit does not involve CBC and, as such, it is not the corporation's place to comment on it," he added.

Protesters with signs against a pipeline stand outside a municipal building.
Supporters of those arrested by police enforcing an injunction protecting work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline gathered outside the courthouse in Prince George, B.C., on Nov. 22, 2021. (Andrew Kurjata/CBC)

The rights of journalists are guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Nov. 19, 2021, arrest of Bracken and Toledanosparked outrage among press freedom advocates.

"The lawsuit filed this morning aims to establish meaningful consequences for police when they interfere with the constitutional rights of journalists covering events in injunction zones," saidEmma Gilchrist, co-founder and executive director of The Narwhal.

She said the outlet would rather not engage in a lengthy, expensive lawsuit but that the situation left them no choice, and they are now seeking declarations from the court that Bracken's rights were breached.

A woman stands on the steps of a court house.
Emma Gilchrist, editor-in-chief and executive director of The Narwhal told reporters on the steps of B.C. Supreme Court Monday, the news outlet was compelled to file a lawsuit against the Mounties not only to stand up for Bracken, but for all Canadian journalists working to cover stories in injunction zones. (CBC News)

"To not move forward with this case would be to turn our backs on what's right," said Gilchrist, adding she hopes the move will clear a path for other journalists to work without police interference.

Gilchrist's colleague and The Narwhal's executive editor,Carol Linnitt, told reporters what happened to Bracken onWet'suwet'enland is indicative of a pattern showing a lack of regard for freedom of the press by police.

She referenced the use of illegal exclusion zones by RCMPto prevent journalists from covering arrests at Fairy Creek logging protests on Vancouver Island in 2021 as another example.

"The arrest and detainment of Amber Bracken should never have happened," said Linnitt.

She said Bracken was carrying an assignment letter from The Narwhal in her pocket during the time of her arrest and identified herself repeatedly as a member of the press to officers.

RCMP have acknowledged both Bracken and Toledano identified themselves at the scene as independent journalists.

Sean Hern K.C., legal council for The Narwhal, said the suit is seeking damages for Bracken for wrongful arrest and charter breaches, both of which he said are usually "fairly low" monetary awards, as well as a claim for punitive damages.

"This isn't about gains or a windfall for The Narwhal or Bracken," said Hern.

Members of the Wet'suwet'en established the resistance camp at a Coastal GasLink work site on Sept. 25, 2021,halting plans to drill a tunnel under the Wedzin Kwa, or Morice River.

Bracken and Toledano were released from custody after they agreed to comply with the terms of an injunction intended to keep protesters away from the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

In December 2021,Coastal GasLink dropped civil contempt charges against Bracken and Toledano, according to documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

CBC reached out to the RCMP for comment.A spokesperson for the Mounties said that once served with a notice of civil claim,the Department of Justice will review it, and a statement of defence will be issued through the appropriate court process.

With files from Kate Partridge