Reporters don’t have to reveal sources, judge rules

Marc-Yvan Côté, former Quebec transport minister, is seen in a frame grab from the Charbonneau inquiry looking into corruption in the Quebec construction industry. legislation sets out certain strict conditions for such a procedure to go ahead and the lawyers failed to prove this is one of them.

The media lawyer representing Denis and Lacroix immediately said the ruling means new federal legislation on the protection of journalistic sources has passed a first test in the courts. The new law, S-231, was adopted in October 2017.

This case will create a precedent in Canada, said Christian Leblanc. “It is in fact the first time in Canadian judicial history that we apply the federal law on the protection of sources,” Leblanc said. “There is always pressure on journalists to reveal their sources; the good news is we have an instrument to protect them and today is a good example of that.”

Jacques Larochelle, the lawyer representing Côté, told the judge he would review the ruling and decide about a possible appeal later. He has 10 days to act.

Larochelle is the lawyer handling the two legal challenges in the case against Normandeau, Côté and four others, which is supposed to start in April. The six are charged with 14 counts of fraud and corruption. The defence lawyers are trying to have the case against their clients dismissed on the grounds the numerous leaks have compromised their chance for a fair trial.

The lawyers wanted to put the journalists on the stand and question them on their confidential sources used to produce two reports about leaks from the province’s troubled anti-corruption unit, UPAC.

Their stated goal was to demonstrate the existence of an organized system of leaks that, they say, justifies a stay of proceedings against their clients. Part of their plan was to question journalists who made use of or exposed leaks from UPAC, the l’Unité permanente anticorruption unit, in the last few months.

Denis, who works at Radio-Canada’s flagship investigative show Enquête, produced several reports, including one exposing connections between a firm called Premier Tech and former cabinet minister Sam Hamad and Côté. The story made abundant use of confidential sources.

Lacroix produced an article for L’Actualité Magazine in April 2016, three weeks after UPAC arrested Normandeau on the same day as the provincial budget was being tabled.

One of Lacroix’s sources was the mysterious “Pierre,” who claimed to have confidential information on the cases and tried to peddle it to several media outlets, facts Lacroix reported.

But lawyers acting on behalf of the media employing the journalists argued journalists do not work for police or the courts.

The judge’s ruling means Quebecers are no further ahead in identifying who is leaking information at UPAC and for what reasons. Politically charged, the story now is bouncing daily between the courts and the National Assembly.

Last week, an unsealed affidavit revealed UPAC has investigated four possible sources in connection with the leaks: former construction boss Lino Zambito, former UPAC investigator Richard Despaties, Liberal MNA Guy Ouellette and former Sûreté du Québec officer Stéphane Bonhomme.

All four have taken the stand in the NormandeauCôté case. All four have denied anything to do with the leaks. Nobody has been charged in connection with the leaks.

On Sunday, Zambito added another layer to the mystery, accusing UPAC itself of having orchestrated the leaks. He said he believes the people responsible work in upper management at UPAC, including current UPAC commissioner Robert Lafrenière.