Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in this adjournment proceeding. I had asked a question on February 24, 2017, regarding Reporters Without Borders and their 2015 World Press Freedom Index. At the time, it showed that, in fact, Canada had dropped from its eighth rank in 2015 to its 18th rank. It actually dropped 10 spots. Namibia, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Slovakia were all ahead of us.
The questionnaire this was based on was 87 questions long. Quite a bit of qualitative and quantitative data had been collected in 20 different languages. The parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs gave me an answer that I would simply define as bafflegab or gobbledegook, something in that manner. It was a mash-up of buzzwords and talking points that would not be understandable in any sort of English, or a French translation, that would be acceptable to me.
One thing I would also mention is that the criteria, categories, and indicators for the questions talked about pluralism, media independence, environment of self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and infrastructure. All six points were in this 87-question questionnaire I was bringing up in the House. I was seeking further clarification from the government on why, in fact, after a year in power, Canada had dropped to the 18th spot in terms of the World Press Freedom Index.
We have seen, over the past 18 months, many journalists complain about having been the victims or the targets of police investigations. I will switch to French here for a moment.
On November 2, 2016, journalist Marie-Maude Denis said on Twitter, “I've just learned that my incoming and outgoing calls have been spied on by the Sûreté du Québec in 2013”.
Alain Gravel said, “My turn to get a confirmation that I was targeted by court mandates to obtain a log of my calls by the SQ”.
Here is another quote from Isabelle Richer, who said, “Surreal … The SQ spied on my cellphone following a formal complaint made by Michel Arsenault in 2013”.
These statements were posted on Twitter on November 2, 2016.
That was not the only case. There were several other journalists in Canada who had been found to have been investigated by a police service of some sort, including Marie-Maude Denis and Alain Gravel, as I mentioned; Isabelle Richer, who I mentioned; Éric Thibault, from the Le Journal de Montréal; Denis Lessard; and Gilles Toupin and Joël-Denis Bellavance, who are both Ottawa-based journalists working for La Presse.
I felt that my questions to the minister and the parliamentary secretary, who answered, were pretty reasonable. They were just laying out the case that we were finding it unusual that so many journalists had been the target of what would be considered limitations on their press freedom. As well, there was this international organization, a well-regarded international organization, which had been producing this particular index at least since 2002, when it started, an index that had been going on for 14 or 15 years and was well respected internationally and is one the government should be aware of. The parliamentary secretary was simply incapable of providing an answer to the question.
I will mention that when the previous Conservative government took power in 2006, it was indeed in 18th spot, and over time, we actually saw it bounce up and down just a little bit, but it was going in the right direction, which was towards more press freedom. In fact, in 2015, it had finished in the eighth spot.
Again, going back to the categories and indicators, pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and infrastructure, Canada had been going in the right direction, which was towards more press freedom.
My question to the parliamentary secretary, and it is a question I repeat today, is this. Why has Canada dropped 10 spots, and why are we behind countries like Costa Rica, when we should be moving ahead and up in the rankings?