Impunity in Canada

The 1998 murder of journalist Tara Singh Hayer did not take place in a remote village in the Punjab . Hayer was killed in his Surrey, British Columbia garage. More than eight years later, his murder remains unsolved. It's a Canadian example of the killing of a journalist with impunity – exemption from punishment – the theme of this year's World Press Freedom Day on May 3.

Few Canadians face the same threats to their freedom of expression that journalists in other parts of the globe do. In Canada , it is virtually unheard of for a journalist to be killed because of his or her writing, or to face indefinite jail time, or even physical violence. For the most part, press freedom in Canada is protected by a strong democratic tradition. And yet the few cases that have slipped through the cracks – the cases that remain unsolved – illustrate that Canada is not untouched by impunity.

Canadian reporter murdered with impunity
The murder of Tara Singh Hayer, the only journalist assassinated for his work on Canadian soil, stands as a case in point. On November 18, 1998, 62-year-old Hayer – then the publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times – was shot to death at his Surrey , B.C. home.

Hayer was presumably targeted for his investigative work into the Air India case. The 1985 bombing of an Air India flight, plotted and initiated in Vancouver , was the deadliest incident of aviation terrorism in Canadian history. Hayer had already made statements to police that would incriminate members of a militant Sikh separatist group and he was on the list of potential witnesses to be heard at the high-profile trial.

In the years since his murder, which occurred ten years after an earlier attempt on his life that left him confined to a wheelchair, many details have been uncovered about the people behind the killing. In 2003, Hardip Singh Uppal, on trial at the time for a separate murder, informed police that a suspect had confessed to him his role as driver of the getaway car in Hayer's shooting. This suspect had also revealed the identity of a second suspect as the shooter.

The first suspect is currently in jail, with a 25-year sentence for a different murder. The second was reported missing by his family in February 2006 and is feared murdered. Neither of them was ever charged with Hayer's murder. It has been reported that the terrorist group Babbar Khalsa ordered the killing.

Hayer's son, Dave Hayer, in interviews with the press has maintained that he is interested in discovering “the big picture” behind his father's death, rather than simply convicting the gunman. “The police have to get the people who arranged my father's murder and the people who raised the money for it,” he said.

Since 2006, the investigation into the murder of Tara Singh Hayer has intensified, with extra officers assigned to the case in November. RCMP Insp. Jim Gresham stated “We will continue to investigate it and we are always optimistic that we are going to have some success,” he said.

Other Canadian journalists who have been threatened and attacked
Kim Bolan, an investigative reporter for the Vancouver Sun , who was similarly interested in the Air India bombing faced parallel threats to Hayer. Refusing to stop writing, she was confronted with threats by telephone, radio, and face-to-face. In July 1998, her house was targeted in a drive-by shooting.

Bolan explains her continued action in the face of danger, “If I back down now, after all these years, the act of threatening will have become a successful tactic. More Canadian journalists will get letters like the one I got almost eight years ago [a hand-written death threat]. And my old colleague, Tara Singh Hayer, will have died in vain.”

Michel Auger
Crime reporter Michel Auger's life has also been threatened because of his journalism. After writing about biker gang Hells Angels' domination of the Montreal crime scene, he was shot multiple times in the back in 2000 and miraculously survived. The shooter has been identified, but there is not enough evidence to lay charges.

In 2000, CJFE presented Michel Auger with the Tara Singh Hayer award – renamed in 1999 in memory of Hayer. Each year, this award recognizes a journalist who, through his or her work, has made an important contribution to reinforcing and promoting the principle of freedom of the press in this country or elsewhere.

The impact of impunity in Canada
While Canada has a generally good record of prosecuting criminals who threaten the lives of others, this record is not perfect. What has been the impact of these unsolved and unpunished attacks on press freedom in Canada ?

The three cases of Bolan, Auger, and Hayer illustrate the varying effects on journalists who find they are not protected from threats on their lives. Bolan continued her investigative reporting with the same determination, if not more. She showed that despite impunity, violence would not deter her from writing about controversial issues.

Auger also insisted that the attempt on his life would not stop him from writing about Quebec 's biker gangs. He soon published a book about his experiences with the gangs called "The Biker Who Shot Me". However, the shootings had obviously had an impact on Auger. At an event in his honour a few months after his attack, he refused to address the incident with reporters. "I was the victim of one attempt and I don't want to be the victim of another," he said. Auger announced his retirement plans in 2006, but maintained that they were not necessarily connected to the 2000 attempt on his life.

But it is Tara Singh Hayer's murder which was the greatest test, and indeed, the greatest failure of press freedom in Canada . Despite repeated warnings, threats, and a previous attempt on his life, police were simply unable to protect him. And with each passing year that his murder goes unpunished, it appears that these killers, on Canadian soil, have gotten away with murder. When Tara Singh Hayer died, Canada lost an irreplaceable voice for the Indo-Canadian community – a devastatingly high price to pay in the name of free expression.

When a journalist receives threats in connection with his or her reporting, there is a ripple effect of fear throughout the community. Sources may be more wary of divulging important information. Other journalists may be hesitant to cover the controversial issues that have resulted in attacks on their peers. The indirect effects of these three cases cannot be underestimated.

These cases of impunity are a blight on Canada 's record. Not every criminal case can be solved, but it is our duty as Canadians to ensure that attacks on the free press are taken extremely seriously by the police, by the justice system and by our government.

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Death threats are sent to try to stop reporting, by Kim Bolan