Police admit error in arrest of reporter for harassment
Crown officials say no crime was committed
OTTAWA • A Radio-Canada reporter arrested for allegedly criminally harassing the executive director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Outaouais will not be charged, Gatineau, Que., police say.
Reporter Antoine Trépanier was summoned to Gatineau police headquarters and arrested on March 13 after he emailed executive director Yvonne Dubé about interviewing her for a story he was working on.
Crown officials said Thursday they reviewed the case and came to the conclusion no crime was committed.
Gatineau police Chief Mario Harel announced the decision at a news conference at police headquarters Thursday afternoon. While police have to treat every complaint with care, it’s clear the officer, while well-intentioned, made the wrong decision, he said.
“In this case, the officer was acting strictly on the basis of the exchanges with the victim and (her) statements. He weighed those factors and the real fears expressed by the victim for (her) safety, and deemed them sufficient to warrant an intervention with Mr. Trépanier.
“Clearly, the officer did not properly assess that situation based on the victim’s statement,” Harel said.
Gatineau police conducted “a serious and indepth post-mortem” after the arrest, and have taken steps to ensure officers understand how and why reporters do the work they do.
“Freedom of the press is fundamental, as is the public’s right to quality, accurate, rigorous and complete information. At no point did the officer choose to proceed with arresting Mr. Trépanier in order to interfere with the freedom of the press or with his work,” Harel said.
“Although the Criminal Code does not make a distinction between a status of individuals in society, the past few days have made us realize that officers could benefit from more awareness of the practices, uses and rights of journalists in order to better understand the requirement of the work of reporters.”
Trépanier was working on a story that Dubé, who has led the Big Brothers and Big Sisters chapter for three years, had once been admonished in Ontario for practising law without a licence. Dubé at first agreed to an interview, then backed out. Radio-Canada says Trépanier followed up with an email offering her another chance to comment on the story. Dubé then called police.
The arrest was condemned by advocates for press freedom and in editorials in the Ottawa Sun, Toronto Sun, the Globe and Mail and others.
Harel defended the arrest at the time, saying police had a duty to believe a complainant.
When there is a complaint of harassment, threats or domestic violence, “the duty of the police officer is first to believe” the person making the complaints, Harel said at a news briefing on March 16. At the same time, he said, “We don’t want to prevent journalists from doing their jobs.”
At a special meeting last weekend, the board of the non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Outaouais unanimously voted in support of Dubé.
In April 2015, Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles T. Hackland ordered Dubé to “permanently cease practising the law without authorization” and “no longer provide unauthorized legal services,” according to Radio-Canada.
Dubé admitted that’s what happened but denied to Radio-Canada that she ever represented clients in court as a lawyer, saying instead that she was working as an articling student for Christian Deslauriers, an Ottawa lawyer who was himself recently suspended by the Law Society of Upper Canada for allowing her to run his legal aid practice from June 2010 until September 2011.