News & Statements

PEN Canada is closely following reports that journalist Rachel Gilmore was publicly accosted by individuals named in a Tyee investigation into a white nationalist group in Montreal. In a follow-up article posted on March 12, Gilmore recounts that two men connected with the group confronted her at a live music venue and tried to intimidate her by threatening to show up at what they thought was her gym. 

Since, Gilmore has reported that members of affiliated organizations have attempted further intimidation by threatening to doxx the reporter’s home address, by sharing images depicting the sexual degradation of the journalist, and by making deepfake videos of her loved ones. 

PEN Canada is profoundly disturbed by these reports. Attempts to intimidate or otherwise suppress journalists have no place in Canada, or in any country that considers itself a functioning democracy. If confirmed, these actions represent a targeted attack on Gilmore based on her gender, an especially reprehensible form of intimidation, and one that reflects a broader climate of hostility toward women in journalism. Our democratic freedoms depend upon an independent press and upon the willingness of journalists to follow stories wherever they lead, without fear of harm in any form.

“We should all have Rachel’s back,” says PEN Canada President Ira Wells. “Journalists like Rachel are not the only victims of press intimidation. Any attempt to silence or intimidate a journalist is also an attack on our own right to know what is happening in our communities. We all depend upon the courage of journalists to shine a light into corners that some would rather keep hidden.”

PEN stands with the writers and journalists who uphold and defend our collective right to freedom of expression and the unhampered transmission of thought.