Justice committee  As I said at the outset, I am not a lawyer, nor am I an expert on legal issues. Based on my understanding and perception of the bill being debated today, what is proposed is not an extreme. On the contrary, I see this as an attempt to codify what has become a practice, as seen in

Justice committee  We have two definitions which are not contradictory. The Federation professionnelle des journalistes is made up of individual members. Therefore, people often come to us asking to become members. Our decision is based on a criterion which, without being perfect, allows us to func

Justice committee  Yes, absolutely. I had a blog last fall during the municipal election campaign in Quebec City. As was already pointed out, the same criteria and the same rules apply to people keeping a journal.

Justice committee  Yes, absolutely. Our federation does not only accept journalists who are the salaried or unionized employees of a specific media company, but also freelance and independent journalists. They have every right to be members of our federation and are considered to be professional jo

Justice committee  I don't think members of our federation are involved in that kind of activity. The term “pornography” is not part of the criteria on which we base our decisions on a daily basis. We will not refuse memberships to someone who writes a blog, because a blog is not, in itself, incons

Justice committee  In my opinion, the bill will make it possible to protect reporters, sources and the public, and eliminate the uncertainty associated with the fact that courts of law, here and there, and at any time, will be in a position to decide when journalists will or will not be compelled t

Justice committee  Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to appear before the Committee to present our views today, particularly on the topic of source protection, which has given rise to much passionate debate in the House of Commons. I hope your deliberations this afternoon will be more