Canada Denies teleSUR Press Credentials for Lima Group Meeting

The Canadian government denied media outlets, like teleSUR, whose mission it is to provide news from the Global South, from covering the latest self-styled Lima Group meeting that will take place in Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

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The government did not provide any reasoning for the denial of Lima Group meeting access, but has recently been called out for limiting press freedom within the country based on the preferences of its government. Their message read, "Thank you for your interesting in the 10th ministerial meeting of Lima Group in Ottawa. This email is to let you know you have NOT been accredited as media."

In a recent Supreme Court case from November 2018, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously against a journalist for Vice Canada, Ben Makuch, over his reporting on Islamic State Group terror cell member Farah Shirdon, a Canadian citizen turned Islamist fighter. By court ruling, Makush was required to hand over all documents related to his story which “sets an extremely worrying precedent and is a blow to press freedom in Canada," according to Alexandra Ellerbeck, Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) North America program coordinator.

In other case from 2017, the Canadian police forces were accused of monitoring at least seven journalists, getting access to cellphone records, in a bid by Quebec provincial police to help them solve the case of an informant among their ranks.Canada’s denial of press credentials thus follows a pattern of attacks against any journalism that doesn’t fall completely in line with government directives.

The Canadian government has also proven to be a proxy enforcer for the United States, recently arresting a Chinese executive for Huawei based on an order by the U.S. government. 

teleSUR is a  news outlet that provides coverage on a historically underreported range of topics with a focus on the Global South.