No harassment charges for reporter

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 to complain.

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 another 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, citing the work she’s done since joining the organization to improve fundraising and to more than triple the number of children it helps.

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 RadioCanada.

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. Gatineau police admitted an officer did not “properly assess” Antoine Trépanier’s encounter with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Outaouais head Yvonne Dubé.