journalist silence awards

Canadian Association of Journalists Code of Silence Award - call for nominations

OTTAWA, Feb. 9 /CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists is requesting nominations for its sixth annual Code of Silence Award recognizing the most secretive government department in Canada.

"Canada's governmental culture of secrecy is well known, and well established, throughout this country," said Paul Schneidereit, CAJ president. "Politicians and bureaucrats everywhere have long shown an astounding, some would say mind-numbing, perseverance in denying the public's fundamental right to know, by hiding vital information, stalling or denying access to information requests, destroying documents and persecuting whistleblowers.

"The Code of Silence award was created specifically to visibly hail their efforts, to ensure that those who have worked hardest to uphold a strict code of silence in dealing with journalists and the public receive appropriate recognition."

The Code of Silence Award is handed out annually at the CAJ's gala award ceremonies which take place during the association's annual conferences. This year, the conference is being held May 12-14 in Halifax.

Last year, the government of Alberta won for Premier Ralph Klein's Conservative government denial, to journalists and opposition parties, of access to public documents on the use of a government plane until after the 2004 provincial election. The Edmonton Journal later ran a four-part series showing the air transportation service had been used like a private taxi company by Klein and his ministers, with virtually no oversight. An FOI commissioner ordered a public hearing into how the government processed the newspaper's FOI request.

Previous winners include Health Canada, for denying any meaningful access to a database of prescription drugs that could harm or even kill Canadians; the Nova Scotia government, for a pattern of secrecy, including instituting the highest fees in the country for access to information requests; the federal Department of Justice, for giving itself the power, under Bill C-36, to override the Access to Information Act on some documents; and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, for withholding information about the Walkerton water tragedy that claimed seven lives and sickened hundreds.

Nominees can include municipal, provincial or federal government departments as well as public agencies that work in the public interest with public money. Nominations can be submitted to the CAJ in the following ways:
E-mail: canadianjour@magma.ca
(write "Code of Silence" in subject line)
Phone: 613-526-8061
Nominations close May 1, 2006.

The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with more than 1,500 members across Canada. The CAJ's primary role is to provide public-interest advocacy and quality professional development for its members.
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