The Supreme Court will hear the case of Vice Media vs the Crown when it decides whether the RCMP has the authority to obtain messages between a reporter and a young ISIS convert from Calgary. Farah Shirdon, 22, a naturalized Canadian born in Somalia, is now dead according to the US government. But in 2014 he carried on communication by way of an app called Kik with Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch. Shirdon was prosecuted by the government for treason and the Mounties wanted to see the messages. Several courts have found that the communication is evidence and must be handed over. Vice Media sees a threat to press freedom.
NOUR CASE A PRECEDENT?
In December the SCOC found that texts in a criminal prosecution were privileged but only because they were on the phone of an accomplice not the accused. If they had been found on the cell of Nour Marakah, a firearms trafficker, there would have been no privilege. It is an interesting subtlety that was ripped up by Justice Moldaver in a blistering minority opinion. Now it remains to be seen whether this will be relevant in the Vice complaint. Fear not Canada. SCOC finds that some texts private but with a sharp dissent
