Canada has slipped from 18th place down to 22nd in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index which ranks countries based on press freedoms.
The four-place slip for Canada reflects a global trend in which attacks on the media are becoming more common.
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), despite the Canadian constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advocating for a “free media,” recent events such as police surveillance of journalists and the passing of Bill C-51 are largely to blame for declining press freedom.
In particular, RSF points to how several members of the Canadian press have been under police surveillance in Quebec in an attempt to uncover internal leaks.
As well, RSF also highlights that journalists in Canada are not currently protected by any “shield law” and legislation like Bill C-51 uses national security as an excuse to chill free speech and expression online.
In 2015, Canada was ranked eighth in the world for press freedom.
Norway currently ranks first place in the Freedom Index in contrast to North Korea that scores last.
Comparing the world’s regions, Europe currently sits at the top of the list of continents with free press while the Middle East and North Africa rank last
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The degree of freedom available to journalists is determined by collecting the responses of experts to a questionnaire devised by RSF. The criteria used in the questionnaire are pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.
The World Press Freedom Index has been published annually since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders and is used as a point of reference by diplomats and international entities such as the United Nations and the World Bank to examine freedom of the press around the world.
