OTTAWA - Reporters Without Borders, an international organization dedicated to promoting press freedom, is slamming the government of Quebec Premier Jean Charest for backing a decision by the press gallery at the Quebec National Assembly to bar reporters from Le Journal de Montreal.
Jean-Francois Julliard, the Paris-based secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, says in a letter to the speaker of the Quebec National Assembly, Liberal MNA Yvon Vallieres, that barring reporters from the assembly is “detrimental to the image of Quebec, its democracy and the institution over which you preside.” The press gallery is refusing to accredit reporters from Le Journal de Montreal because the paper's management and some of its employees are in a labour dispute that is in its 18th month.
Management at Le Journal locked out 250 unionized workers on Jan. 24, 2009, saying the union representing those workers wanted to deadlock ongoing negotiations. Despite locking out more than 100 editorial employees, the daily has published continuously.
The locked-out editorial and office employees, who are represented by the Syndicat des travailleurs de l'information du Journal de Montreal, have been receiving 76% of their regular pay ¬ tax-free ¬ since the dispute began.
Recently, the press gallery in Quebec City changed its constitution to allow it to refuse accreditation to anyone representing an organization involved in a labour dispute.
Without press gallery accreditation, reporters can't cover debates in the legislature, committee meetings, or press conferences and can't use press facilities in the assembly buildings.
But the Quebec National Assembly press gallery, like the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and press galleries at other provincial legislatures, derives its authority from the speaker in each legislature and, ultimately, from the legislatures themselves.
Julliard said the Quebec National Assembly “cannot reject an accreditation request by a media group to cover the legislative session, particularly a request by a media group which has wide appeal. Leaving the situation as it is interferes with the constitutional principle of equal access to public information.” Le Journal de Montreal is the largest circulation French-language newspaper in North America and has been the flagship paper in French Canada for Quebecor Inc. since it was established by Pierre Peladeau in 1964.
Reporters without Borders says that, in the name of press freedom, Vallieres must intervene to allow Le Journal reporters to go about their jobs.
“Reporters without Borders urges you to issue alternative accreditations to the media organizations whose request would likely be turned down by the press gallery,” Julliard said. “This way, without taking a position on an editorial internal conflict, you can uphold your role as guardian of Quebec’s democracy.”
