Winnipeg police confiscate documentary filmmaker’s camera
Canada appears to simply be falling in line with an international consensus that, when it comes to cameras (and many other things), you’re a slave and you have no rights. But it’s for your safety and has nothing to do with power. Really.
Flashback: Guardian reporter detained for taking picture of sea near Bilderberg conference | Police seizures of cameras prompts B.C. complaint | Police erased cellphone video of fatal shooting, witness alleges | Pre-Olympic transit ads encourage citizen surveillance | UK: Calling the police to account for anti-photography law | Australian Citizen Journalist Charged for Filming Police under Anti-Terror Law | Charges laid after Winnipeg street blocked off for hours
CBC News
May 15, 2009
A Genie Award winning documentary filmmaker claims his rights were violated by Winnipeg police, who confiscated his camera while he was filming in the city on Wednesday.
John Paskievich was filming a documentary just north of the downtown core, on Gertie Street, when four officers confronted him, he said. They asked him to stop taping, and then confiscated his camera when he didn’t comply, he said.
They also detained him and frisked him, according to Paskievich.
“This is Canada. If you’re on a public street you have every right to film what’s going on. It’s the law,” he said. “What they’ve done is just wrong.”
The Winnipegger, whose documentaries focus a lot on the working-class and immigrant communities, was taping a backhoe operator digging to access a natural gas line. The work was being done in preparation for the city to shut off the supply to 89 Gertie St., a house owned by his latest film subject, animator Ed Ackerman.
The dilapidated house is to be razed by the city.
Paskievich asked what law he had broken but the police only told him he was making the backhoe driver uneasy.
Camera retrieved later in day
The officers told Paskievich he could pick up the camera and videotape at the Public Safety Building at 5 p.m. When he did, he checked to make sure the footage was still there, which it was.
But he still has not been given a valid explanation as to why the incident happened in the first place. He said he feels “emotionally roughed up” and believes the incident was a violation of his rights.
“I’ve run into this before in places like the Soviet Union, in Eastern Europe, but not here in Canada. This is the first time [in this country], after being in the business of photography and documentary film for about 30 years,” he said.
The Winnipeg Police Service said it is looking into the incident.
Paskievich, who studied at the University of Winnipeg and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, won a Genie for his 1982 documentary Ted Baryluk’s Grocery.
His 2006 National Film Board of Canada documentary Unspeakable, which explores stuttering, won a special jury prize at the Whistler Film Festival.
An accomplished photographer as well, his images have been exhibited at galleries and museums across Canada and published in four books.
Source | See Also under Cameras: Guardian reporter detained for taking picture of sea near Bilderberg conference | Australian nightclub installs face-scanning security system | Police seizures of cameras prompts B.C. complaint | NYPD seeks to expand anti-terror program to midtown | Police erased cellphone video of fatal shooting, witness alleges | Pre-Olympic transit ads encourage citizen surveillance | UK: Calling the police to account for anti-photography law | UK: Landlord fights police plan for CCTV at pub | Plan to add Toronto red-light cameras on hold | Security cameras proposed for downtown Sydney | UK House of Lords warns over ’surveillance state’ | UK Terror Law To Make Photographing Police Illegal | Let’s face it, soon Big Brother will have no trouble recognising you | Military challenge: Make spy data more accessible | UK: Big Brother CCTV to spy on pupils aged four – complete with CPS evidence kit | Toronto surveillance project to enter new phase pending review | Australian Citizen Journalist Charged for Filming Police under Anti-Terror Law | Social services set up CCTV camera in couple’s bedroom | New surveillance program will turn military satellites on US | Red light cameras not going up fast enough for Toronto budget | NYC Residents Furious over Invasive Surveillance Grid | CCTV cameras spying on hundreds of classrooms | CCTV doesn’t keep us safe | Hats banned from Yorkshire pubs over CCTV fears | Billboards that look back | Tanks, Face-Scanning Cameras Part of ‘Discreet’ 2010 Games Security | $4 Million Earmarked for Cameras, “Respect” at Toronto Schools | Vancouver Olympics security cameras raise privacy concerns | CBC Radio Broadcasts Expose of North American Police State | Surveillance cameras to keep an eye on downtown Calgary | Privacy International responds to Ontario Privacy Commissioner ruling on CCTV | School removes CCTV cameras from children’s toilets after furious protest from parents | When Surveillance Cameras Talk | Charges laid after Winnipeg street blocked off for hours | Ottawa police chief calls for more surveillance cameras | T.T.C. Starts Camera Installation On Buses & Streetcars | Toronto police seek feedback on installing security cameras | Premier Thinks Yonge St. Cameras Should Stay, John Tory Wants Them In Ent. District | Cameras To Be Installed Downtown For Holiday Shopping Season
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