Mike on Crime

By Winnipeg Free Press

WINNIPEG — TV news stations want their cameras in the courtroom for the upcoming inquest into the 2008 death of Brian Sinclair in a city emergency room.

The hearing will be held Friday at the Law Courts Building.

CBC, CTV, Global and APTN want permission from the judge that their cameras record the proceedings for news broadcasts and live webcast streaming.

The government of Manitoba, Manitoba Nurses Union, and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority oppose the move.

The family of Brian Sinclair support the motion, their lawyer Vilko Zbogar said in a statement today.

Zbogar said the family believes it is essential that the inquest into Sinclair’s death be widely accessible to the public.

In an affidavit filed to support the motion, CTV reporter Kelly Dehn says the hearing is, “a matter of profound public interest where the broadcasters maintain that the public has the right to televised access to the proceedings and where the broadcasters maintain that they have the right to provide televised coverage to the public.”

Sinclair died in Sept. 2008 after waiting 34 hours in the emergency room without receiving care.

While other jurisdictions have embraced cameras in the courtroom, courts in Manitoba and Canada have been reluctant, despite the efforts of some judges to get their colleagues to embrace the technology, because of the impact cameras could possibly have on witnesses.

However, cameras are allowed into public inquiries — outside the Law Courts Building—in this province without any issues.

The Supreme Court of Canada currently allows cameras inside their hearings, while a handful of provinces including Ontario have recently been flirting with the idea of allowing the public greater access to the courts.