Media should boycott the Governemnt for one day!!!!

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Media should boycott the Government for one day!!!

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The importance of being Charles #2

July 3, 2009 by Philip Lee

This is a call for working journalists in New Brunswick to get behind Charles LeBlanc, the community news blogger who has been banned from the New Brunswick Legislature and its grounds. The ban, initiated by the legislature’s sergeant-at-arms, was approved by the legislative administration committee, which meets in secret and refuses to release the details of its deliberations.

This morning, I began browsing through the several hundred videos Charles has posted on the web. I came across this one, of Charles interviewing Lieutenant Governor Herménégilde Chiasson on the final day of the Legislature session. He conducts the interview in English and French. It is a respectful and candid interview.





So what’s wrong with this picture? Charles is standing on the outside looking in. He’s not banned from Old Government House events. He’s not banned from City Hall. But he’s banned from the Legislature. Anyone who cares about freedom and free expression needs to get behind Charles and demand that the ban be lifted.

Day in and day out, Charles does great service to his city. For example, last weekend, there was a festival in downtown Fredericton celebrating the cultural diversity in the city. Included in his coverage was this wonderful version of Oh Canada that set the tone for the festival.




During the weekend, Charles posted dozens of photographs and video of the event on his blog. He offered the following commentary:

CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS FESTIVAL 2009 IN FREDERICTON WAS GREAT!!!!
They moved the event inside and it was a darn shame because it didn’t rain.
I decided not to take picture from the front because there were too many kids in the front.
I did manage to take some good shots but it would have been better up front.
Oh well…..
This City is full of immigrants but this blogger has learn something.
I didn’t know there were so many of them and the next time I see an immigrant on the street?
I’ll be thinking of their dance and culture.
This Festival really educated this Blogger and I’m thankful for that.
This Festival must come back next year and for many years to come so people like myself can be educated on their culture.
Merci!!!

That pretty much captured the general reaction to the event, which received token coverage in the local newspapers and almost no coverage on the CBC. There were no reporters from the public broadcaster at the event.

On the weekend, he also covered the march of a group of protestors who met the mayor in front of the Legislature to ask for support for those who are being silenced in Iran in the aftermath of the country’s fraudulent general election. Charles captured the event on video.





The irony of this is not lost on Charles.

Here’s what happened to Charles some months ago when he walked onto the grounds of the Legislature to cover a protest. First this:





Then this:






I don’t blame the Fredericton police force for their handling of this, especially the calm intervention from the deputy chief. The problem is that the police have been given the job of enforcing a ban that is unjust. Charles may be a nuisance in the eyes of some, but in free societies we are allowed to be a nuisance. I can tell you that if I was banned from the Legislature, I would be making a nuisance of myself every day. Check out his youtube channel and you can watch him in action. Among other interviews, there are several with the premier, who Charles interviews on the street, one on one. He has recorded a Christmas message from the premier, in the premier’s office. But he is banned from walking on the grounds of our Legislative Assembly, the people’s house.

So I am calling on journalists to take up this cause. Grant him an honourary membership in the press gallery. Stage a day of protest yourselves during the next sitting of the Legislature. What would happen if journalists refused to attend the Legislature until Charles is allowed to attend the session with them? How quickly would the situation be resolved? This is a wrong that we all have a responsibility to right.

Charles LeBlanc is unconventional, and sometime irritating, but he is one of us.