Radio-Canada says interview request got reporter arrested
A Radio-Canada reporter has been arrested for alleged criminal harassment while pursuing the subject of a story.
According to Radio-Canada, reporter Antoine Trépanier was arrested Tuesday night by Gatineau police. He was released on a promise to appear in court.
Trépanier was reporting on Outaouais Big Brothers and Big Sisters executive director Yvonne Dubé, who was once admonished by an Ontario court for practising law when she wasn’t a lawyer. The charitable organization that now employs her was kept in the dark about her past, Trépanier reported.
The French-language broadcaster has defended Trépanier’s actions in pursuit of the story.
“As part of our journalistic investigation, we offered Ms. Yvonne Dubé to give us a formal interview, in person, which she accepted, then declined at the last moment,” Martin Gauthier, chief information officer for Radio-Canada Ottawa-Gatineau, said in a statement posted to Radio-Canada’s website.
“The next day, the reporter sent an email to Ms. Dubé to reiterate the interview offer. Subsequently, Ms. Dubé complained to (Gatineau police) against (Trépanier) for criminal harassment.”
Despite the arrest, Gauthier said, prosecutors had not yet determined as of Thursday night whether they will charge Trépanier.
“The management of Radio-Canada supports its journalist and his work both ethically and legally.”
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 to September 2011.
A ruling from the law society said Deslauriers “failed to prevent the unauthorized practice of law.”
Gatineau police said Thursday night they had received a complaint from a woman fearing for her safety as a result of threats and repeated communications from a man. The force said it “considers the freedom of the press and the public’s right to quality, accurate, rigorous and comprehensive information as paramount.”