Mr. Speaker, the firing of Russell Mills as editor of the Ottawa Citizen is just one more illustration of how harmful media convergence can be, and how unacceptable it is to the public. As a result, the public is being deprived of complete and impartial information, and as well journalists' rights to disseminate that information are being hampered.
These rights no longer exist when the Asper family's policy of “do as we say, or else” puts the most basic of freedoms at risk.
Moreover, muzzling freedom of the press can go very far. One need only think of journalist Robert McKenzie, who was invited to take early retirement from the Toronto Star because he spoke out in favour of investigative journalist Normand Lester, when the latter's best seller, Le livre noir du Canada anglais was released.
In order to protect the basic principles of ethics and the moral code of journalism, I, as a member of the standing committee on heritage call for an indepth investigation into the ownership of the news media and for real action.