Vexatious Litigation – By the Narwhal and Amber Bracken
Like many people I am left scratching my head wondering if the lawyers used by the Narwhal and Amber Bracken got their degrees out of the proverbial popcorn box, or if the entire concept of suing the RCMP is simply a publicity stunt.
That story can be found here Why The Narwhal and Amber Bracken are suing the RCMP
Now as we all know most court cases are based on evidence provided, and not hypothetical circumstances. So it begs the question of how can they ignore the evidence?
“What was not shown and not reported by the reporters at the scene was the fact that police stood outside the cabin for an hour and more, reading the court injunction explaining their role. At no point do the journalists identify themselves as such until they’re in custody and the arrest is underway.”
On Friday, 28th January 2022 Alex Pierson aired a podcast where she hosted Tom Korski where Tom fills Alex in on memo’s obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter that show the whole story to the RCMP raid of the BC First Nations protest was not revealed, until now that is.
You can find that story here The Media Didn’t Tell The Whole Story on the RCMP First Nation Raid in BC
This damning evidence makes it clear the the Narwhal and Amber Bracken have no case whatsoever. The podcast can be downloaded so we did so to share this incredible evidence with you.
We included the audio and below I did my best to transcribe what was said on that podcast.
Alex Pierson (in blue)
Did Canadians get the whole story about a confrontational protest at a BC pipeline? No, they did not. This happened just before Christmas when there was this confrontation between the RCMP and First Nation and environmental protesters at a Wet’suwet’en protest camp that was trying to stop the construction of the coastal Gas link pipeline.
And this is a pipeline that was not just approved, but it had a lot of support in many indigenous communities. And the protesters ended up blocking off the road, which trapped several of the workers inside who could not get out to get food or water or anything.
So police moved in to remove the protesters and arrested 15 people, including two journalists. And at the time, the reporters accused the officers of coming in violently and arresting them at gunpoint and that they weren’t read their rights.
Well, this was rebuked by politicians and media across the country, except emails obtained by the Department of Public Safety by Blacklock’s Reporter seems to tell a very different story, which is where we meet up with a friend, Tom Korsky, who is the managing editor of Blacklock Reporter and who got that scoop. Hello, Tom.
Tom Korsky, (dark red)
Hi, Alex.
Alex Pierson (in blue)
Yeah, not often we get to talk twice in a row, but I’m glad to have it because this was a very big story before the Christmas break where you had this violent kind of protest and everyone was aghast at what happened. And then you find out, no, there’s another side to the story.
Tom Korsky, (dark red)
And this is the version presented by the Department of Public Safety and to its minister, Mr. Mendocino. So not an opponent of the environmental group or the reporter in this case, for one of them was for the CBC, publicly funded.
The other was for the Narwhal, an environmental advocacy website, also publicly funded. This is a big problem, Alex. This story drew international attention and condemnation. The RCMP were depicted by some commentators as sort of a Gestapo.
We’re barging into this cabin of these peaceful, unarmed protesters with barking dogs, guns and a chainsaw inspired, very dramatic YouTube video that has been seen hundreds of thousands of times. Problem, said the police and the Minister of Public Safety in this memo.
What was not shown and not reported by the reporters at the scene was the fact that police stood outside the cabin for an hour and more, reading the court injunction explaining their role. At no point do the journalists identify themselves as such until they’re in custody and the arrest is underway.
This is a serious problem, Alex. Everyone understands the concept of advocacy journalism, but you can’t leave out facts. We cannot get answers from the Narwhal or the Canadian Association of Journalists that describe the RCMP’s conduct as misconduct and disgusting, a national disgrace.
Lot of questions here.
Alex Pierson (in blue)
Yeah. And ultimately the charges were dropped against the two reporters, as I understand. But hey, I mean, don’t let facts get in the way of a good story. But herein lies the problem. Why didn’t the Public Safety Minister come out and clarify that? Because there is an issue. I mean, we get these protests and they do shock people and then people go away with only one narrative. But why wouldn’t they be more proactive in making sure that there was a full reading of the facts?
Tom Korsky, (dark red)
Mendocino was never asked. It never occurred to me. He was asked briefly once, and he’s a former crown prosecutor. And the minister said, yeah, this was unfortunate, but you got to do what you got to do. Meanwhile, there’s no doubt he had a memo on his desk that indicated that according to the police version, they were there. This was a misrepresentation of what occurred and it was a very serious misrepresentation. You know, in this business, Alex, I got to tell you a couple of secrets. This is 40 years in the newsroom. You always look for the reason not to report the story. That’s called being fair minded. You don’t leave out facts that you may not like. When you look for a reason not to report the story and you can’t find one, you got a hell of a story there. But if you don’t want to report the fact as according to the government memo, that you don’t identify yourself as a reporter for more than an hour, the police memo said the people in the cabin, while the cops are trying to communicate with them, exchange derogatory remarks. It almost looks like you’re manufacturing a point of confrontation so you can cry press freedom.
That’s not a good look, Alex.
Alex Pierson (in blue)
Well, it’s not. And you’re also taught in journalism school. Do not make yourself a part of the story. I mean, I’ve covered a lot of protests. I get how they can get very heated. I covered off G Seven with the black block. I mean, I’ve seen it. And so I can see how these things get out of control. But I also know that generally speaking, when you’re at a protest and the cops are there and it’s getting heated, you say, Look, I’m journalist.
Here’s my credential. And generally speaking, they’ll kind of step back and calmer heads will prevail. But on the flip side, this is one of those stories that also infuriated a lot of indigenous groups that are part of the coastal linked gas line, who want the project to go forward, who were very angry that this confrontation happened because they actively want this, and they felt like only one group gets kind of the story and then it doesn’t actually tell the facts. That is, indigenous groups do actually want pipeline. It’s not all of them who don’t.
Tom Korsky, (dark red)
There’s no doubt that there are five or six different sides to this story, but no one side gets to omit or fail to present certain facts that may undermine a point of view. Alex, if this is what passes for media reportage in this country now, subsidized by the taxpayers of Canada, we’re so far down the slippery slope, we don’t know which way is up anymore. You can’t do it. Why should taxpayers pay for that? And why should anyone have to put up with that? It’s answer time. We can’t get answers from the Narwhal and we can’t get answers from the Canadian Association of Journalists. Isn’t that ironic? They just like to ask questions, but they don’t like to provide answers.
Alex Pierson (in blue)
Well, the CBC Ombudsman has been very busy in the last year or so dealing with reporting that is not accurate. So is this going to get to them?
Tom Korsky, (dark red)
Well, who knows where the complaints will go? But this was raised in the House of Commons as a sad, sad instance of police violence. It was called police violence by the reporters at the scene. I’m no friend of the RCMP, in particular the Commercial Crimes Unit, but no one has to put up with this, especially when you’re doing your job and you’re standing on the line explaining to people who don’t identify themselves as reporters who may be calling you filthy names so they can do the big takedown video. That’s a big, big problem.
Alex Pierson (in blue)
Yeah. And also, at a time when trust in the institutions like our military and policing are kind of at an all time low, you would think that the government would want to come out and say, hey, just a second, catch your breath. Here’s what actually happened. Make your own. Here are the facts. Lay them out. Let people make their own decision. But good digging on you. We’ll see where this one goes. Appreciate you updating us.
Tom Korsky, (dark red)
Thank you kindly, Alex