It was not my intention to create a separate class of citizens, but rather to protect an activity, to protect the sources, and not the journalists themselves. These individuals would not confide in journalists and tell them their sources if they didn't have the guarantee that the information would remain confidential, and it's the confidential sources I sought to protect. Now, even if you don't like the fact that citizens are in a class of their own, the fact remains that these are the only kinds of witnesses who enjoy constitutional protection. Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, everybody enjoys the fundamental freedoms of: freedom of thought, of belief, of opinion, and of expression. In addition to this, there is the freedom of the press and that of other means of communication.
Furthermore, if you pay close attention to justices La Forest and Cory's opinions in the RAD, they provide a very clear explanation of what I said earlier and that is that journalists must not be perceived to be adjuncts of the state. When they collect information and present it, what they disseminate must not be used by the police, unless the police have good reason to make use of it. The notion of good reason is broadly explained in my bill and will be interpreted based on existing case law.