Winnipeg journalist must hand over interview with father of man accused in mass shooting: judge

A Manitoba judge is standing by a decision ordering a Winnipeg reporter to hand over to police the full, unedited interview he did with the father of a man accused in connection with a mass shooting.

CityNews reporter Morgan Modjeski must give city police access to the raw footage of an on-camera interview he conducted with Randolph "Chummy" Fagnan in the aftermath of the 2023 shooting at a rooming house in Winnipeg's West Broadway neighbourhood, Court of King's Bench Justice Gerald Chartier wrote in a decision issued Wednesday.

The journalist had challenged the order in court earlier this year, with his lawyer arguing the reporter's refusal to hand over the tape would by covered by laws protecting journalistic sources.

Wednesday's decision said Modjeski's argument that granting police access would hurt his ability to gain the trust of sources did not apply, because Fagnan was not a confidential source.

The order to turn over the interview "will authorize the least interference with the journalist's right to privacy in gathering and disseminating information," the judge wrote.

"There is no confidential source to protect, and portions of the interview have already been made public by the media."

Iain MacKinnon, who represented Modjeski, said granting police access through court orders could become a "slippery slope," turning media into an investigative arm for the state and harming journalists' credibility, impartiality and independence.

He says he was disappointed by the decision, but not surprised.

"When [cases involve] footage … that doesn't involve a confidential source, courts will typically and often allow the police to have access to that, as long as they can meet a certain, fairly low threshold of relevance," MacKinnon told CBC Thursday, arguing it shouldn't be that easy for police to get access to a journalist's material.

"The more cases that allow this to happen, perhaps the more likely the police will use journalists as an investigative tool," he said.

"The concern is that this becomes a more routine part of the investigative process for police when they're investigating crimes."

The federal Journalistic Sources Protection Act allows journalists to refuse to disclose information or documents identifying sources, unless that information can't be obtained any other way.

Any order must consider whether public interest in the administration of justice outweighs the public interest in preserving the confidentiality of a source, and the journalist's right to privacy, the legislation says.

Four people were shot dead and another one was taken to hospital in critical condition after a shooting at a home on Langside Street, just south of Sara Avenue, on Nov. 26, 2023.