June 18, 2002

Mr. Geoffrey Elliot                                          FAX: (204) 947-9841
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs
CanWest Global Communications Corp.
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Today I cancelled the Ottawa Citizen that we received for so many years and found so important to the work of the Human Rights Institute of Canada.

I did so with great regret. We relied on the Citizen for its accuracy and its sense of responsibility. With the firing of the Publisher, Mr. Mills, for political reasons, it has been politicized and its contents can no longer be trusted.

We understand that Mr. Mills was fired for an editorial calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Chretien. I have read the editorial, together with the article of June l, 2002 listing the different stories that the Prime Minister had put forward with respect to the Shawinigate scandal. The editorial reflected the views of citizens throughout Canada. Mr. Mills was not alone.

In 1982, Mr. Chretien was the Minister of Justice responsible for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter expressly guarantees the freedom of the press.

Minister Chretien stated at that time:

"Now that our rights will be written into the Constitution, it will be a constant reminder to our political leaders that they must wield their authority with caution and wisdom."

The Prime Minister has violated the Charter itself. His words of assurance were meaningless. The editorial was right. The Prime Minister should indeed resign. We can no longer pretend that Canada is based on law and democracy.