Western Standard - November 23, 2023


The failed attempt of Edmonton bureaucrats to control media


Episode Stats


Length

5 minutes

Words per minute

219.87625

Word count

1,149

Sentence count

75


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) wants to ban the media from reporting on public transit facilities unless they get permission from the City of Edmonton before they can do their job. The Canadian Constitution Foundation says they'll take them to court.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 So thus, I found myself riding the LRT in Edmonton last Sunday when I didn't really need to use it to get anywhere.
00:00:06.040 You see, the Edmonton Transit Service, which goes by ETS, put out a statement a little while ago to media outlets
00:00:11.460 that said media would be banned from public transit facilities unless they sought and got permission to go there first.
00:00:18.040 Now, being a unionized gang, of course, you could only get permission from 9 to 5 on weekdays from these guys.
00:00:24.140 So if there were any events that needed coverage and they happened to be happening in the evenings or the weekends,
00:00:28.780 I guess the press wouldn't be allowed to report on it.
00:00:31.380 The requirement's ridiculous. It's a clear violation of freedom of the press.
00:00:35.600 The Canadian Constitution Foundation immediately released a statement saying they're going to take ETS to court if they don't back off on this.
00:00:42.240 Higher-ups within Edmonton City Hall, they scrambled to respond and they claimed there was no such restriction placed on media.
00:00:47.680 People just misunderstood the statement.
00:00:50.100 Oh, I see. Well, let's have a look at the statement, then I'll read it to you and see if you misunderstand it or not.
00:00:55.020 Here's the statement. It came under the heading, Media on ETS Property.
00:00:59.620 It says, media are required, required, not suggested, to notify the City of Edmonton prior to reporting, filming, or conducting business on ETS property.
00:01:08.540 This includes transit centers, LRT stations, stops along the Valley Line Southeast, and inside all buses or trains.
00:01:14.840 If you wish to gain access to ETS property, please contact blah, blah, blah.
00:01:18.940 How could this be misunderstood? It was pretty clear. They're saying media needs their permission to go on public property and do its job.
00:01:27.720 Now, the reason ETS wants to keep us from reporting on transit property is pretty obvious.
00:01:32.920 As with most major cities, Edmonton's transit systems turned into a dystopian, addict-ridden nightmare.
00:01:38.620 Riding had become unpleasant at best and outright dangerous at worst.
00:01:42.300 Edmonton police at one point even recommended people avoid using transit.
00:01:45.640 Now, like all good bureaucracies, rather than fixing the problem, the first instinct on the part of the pointy head to little bureaucrats was to cover it up, and that meant banning the press.
00:01:55.640 Former Western Standard reporter Arthur Green used to drive them nuts.
00:01:58.620 He made it a personal mission to expose the addict-fueled mayhem happening in Edmonton's downtown and on the transit systems.
00:02:04.780 He constantly embarrassed ETS as he posted photos and video of some of the horrific scenes happening on transit facilities.
00:02:10.840 Green's photos, they were often actually pretty tough to view as he highlighted the human misery and waste happening on city streets and transit lines, but they needed to be seen.
00:02:19.380 Rest assured, Arthur's work was part of what inspired the idiotic attempt by ETS to control the press on public transit.
00:02:27.580 So when I read that ETS statement, my first thought was, who the hell do you guys think you are?
00:02:32.180 And I knew I'd have to put their rules to the test.
00:02:33.860 I mean, the sheer arrogance of these bureaucrats and thinking they could stop media was galling.
00:02:37.920 They likely felt inspired, though, as they've watched the federal government beat on Canada's free press with Bills C-11 and C-18, so why can't civic governments do it too, right?
00:02:46.660 It appeared to some paper pushers it's open season on press rights, and they wanted to pile on.
00:02:51.020 I tweeted out I'd be riding on city transit and live-tweeted my actions as I rode on and reported it on the conditions on the train and in the facilities.
00:02:58.060 I didn't really expect ETS to do anything about it, and they didn't.
00:03:01.120 Their requirement for permission was just a bluff.
00:03:03.240 Bluster.
00:03:03.860 Now let's get on to the ironic part of this story.
00:03:06.100 I'm happy to report, actually, when I rode it, things have actually improved quite a bit on Edmonton Transit Lines.
00:03:10.760 Yes, I saw addicts.
00:03:12.040 I smelled urine.
00:03:13.000 I saw property damage.
00:03:14.100 I witnessed a seemingly endless line of tents and makeshift shelters built along the line near Stadium Station.
00:03:19.480 They do have some serious issues to deal with.
00:03:21.600 But I also saw a very visible presence of security guards, peace officers, cleaning crews, and police at the stations.
00:03:27.380 I mean, one young lady was being arrested when I went by, but at least they're doing their job.
00:03:30.560 The platforms and the trains were actually relatively clean, despite the smell, and efforts were being made to keep it so.
00:03:36.460 Now, it was a Sunday afternoon.
00:03:37.720 I might have been seeing things at their best, but all the same, ETS and Edmonton authorities were clearly trying to keep transit safe and clean.
00:03:43.600 Now, if I'd been blocked from going on transit, or if I'd listened to them, I wouldn't have been able to report this good news.
00:03:48.680 That's the great irony of it all.
00:03:50.320 They don't allow us to report on the good things either.
00:03:52.280 At least they'd like to stop it.
00:03:53.780 The reason they were making such efforts was due to the work of Arthur Green and other journalists who were willing to cover the disorder and issues on Edmonton Transit System.
00:04:01.420 Rest assured, the powers that be would have preferred to just ignore the issue if they could.
00:04:05.440 Free and unfettered media holds governments accountable.
00:04:08.380 They bring issues into the living rooms of citizens who wouldn't have been able to see what's going on otherwise.
00:04:12.460 I mean, most people never realized the mayhem happening in transit until they saw the images and saw the stories about it in the media.
00:04:18.400 Then they demanded politicians do something about it.
00:04:21.180 Media is financially embattled right now by changing times and politically threatened by authoritarian politicians and bureaucrats.
00:04:27.280 We don't and won't give up easily.
00:04:29.760 If the pressures continue as they have, though, we're going to lose more access to unfiltered information and news, and our entire democracy could then be threatened.
00:04:36.240 So be sure to speak up loudly when arrogant and dimwitted bureaucrats, such as those of ETS, try to block free media.
00:04:43.700 Because if they get away with it, we all suffer from it.
00:04:46.220 So if they take things, they're going to cause Will Zeparding.
00:04:54.680 If we hit a few seconds soon, I'll run a few seconds until they've done the decision.
00:04:57.960 So have you picked up?
00:04:59.280 I will put 1 double clinch.
00:05:00.760 So show the break.
00:05:02.160 Let me get away with you.
00:05:03.700 Now, let's go ahead.
00:05:04.780 It's because of the war.
00:05:05.080 We're going to select a long time before.
00:05:06.920 So show us how to break the first round in the blanket.
00:05:07.380 So I'll manage 11 days a week.
00:05:09.000 So you don't care, guys.
00:05:10.500 So let's leave us at the time and run a week where we'll have a day.
00:05:12.520 It's happened barely until they know it.