Media granted permission to broadcast July 9 hearing about cameras in court for Nygard extradition

A consortium of local, national and international media outlets have won their bid to broadcast a July court hearing where they will argue for permission to live stream the extradition hearing of former fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

The consortium is made up of CBC, CTV, Global News, Postmedia, the Globe and Mail and the New York Times. On July 9, lawyers will argue for the right to broadcast the Nygard extradition hearingand those arguments will be live streamed.

"Based upon the evidence that I've examined, there is no risk to the administration of justice if the hearing is broadcast," Chief Justice Glenn Joyalsaid in an oral decision Wednesday morning.

Fred Kozak, the lawyer representing the media consortium, told the court thatgranting the motion to broadcast arguments for and against the media's application to live stream the Nygard extradition hearingwould give the public a better understanding of this case and the way the court functions.

"This case provides a great opportunity to educate the public on how the courts make decisions," Kozaksaid.

That's especially true now, in the midst of a pandemic that's resulted inso many restrictions on public access, he said.

"We can't assume because something was done one way 10 years agothat it always has to be done that way," Kozak said.

"Given the fact that Mr. Nygard, if extradited, may never face criminal proceedings in Canada, his allegations that his accusers are lying may never be aired in a Canadian court. Canadians have a right to hear the evidence of those allegations," CBC journalist and producer of The Fifth Estate Timothy Sawawrote in an affidavit.

Sawa,host of the CBC podcast about the fashion designer called Evil By Design,has been investigatingallegations involvingNygard since 2008.

Nygard and his lawyers tookno position on the issue but Canada and the United States of America are opposed.

"What's so special about this case that suggests live streaming is important?" asked Sean Sass, the lawyer for Canada and the U.S.

WATCH | Caroline Barghout's report:

Media granted permission to broadcast July 9 hearing about cameras in court for Nygard extradition

3 years ago

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A consortium of local, national and international media outlets have won their bid to broadcast a July court hearing where they will argue for permission to live stream the extradition hearing of former fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

"They want todo something different here, they want todo something more," Sass said.

He argued that the media has to show how that would enhance the public interest.

"They need to convince the court that live stream broadcasting of the broadcast application is necessary," Sass said.

Since 2014,Manitobacourts have allowed live streaming of 10 decisions, including the February 2017 Andrea Giesbrechtsentencing decisionand the May 2018 decision in theGuido Amsel case.

Sasssaid the only cases that Manitoba has broadcast so far are all decisions read by judges, not criminal trials.

"We want to maintain the decorum," he said."We want to maintain that the public isn't seeing theatrics."

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"This isn't about court TV," Joyal said."We're not setting up some model for the future. We are talking about a very distinct hearing that would be based on a protocol that still has to be worked out."

Joyal said the consortium must now work with the courts to come up withprotocols specific to this case to deal with the live broadcastand prepare for any issues that may arise.

"In my view, this is a case where important enhancements are achievable with the open court principle and with the public," Joyal said.

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