Democracy Now!: Amy Goodman Detained at Canadian Border
AMY GOODMAN: Well, today we begin with a look at Canada’s attempts to stifle dissent, particularly when it comes to the Winter Olympic Games to be held in Vancouver next year.
Last week, I was detained by Canadian authorities while crossing the Canadian border. It was Thanksgiving. I was on my way, along with two of my colleagues, to speak at the Vancouver Public Library at a benefit for community radio stations, when Canadian border guards held us for over an hour and a half at the border. Well, it was the top story of the CBC news in Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Here’s the report on CBC on Wednesday.
[Video clip of CBC news report]
CBC NEWS ANCHOR: Are Canadian border guards trying to limit speech? An American journalist is outraged about what happened to her on the way to Vancouver last night. She was detained and questioned about what she was planning to say about the Olympics. Our “Go Public” reporter, Kathy Tomlinson, has the exclusive top story.
KATHY TOMLINSON: An award-winning US journalist, Amy Goodman is well known in alternative media circles.
[Video clip of Amy Goodman appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball]
AMY GOODMAN: I didn’t know we needed to have even a visa coming into Canada.
KATHY TOMLINSON: Here to promote a book.
AMY GOODMAN: Clearly he wasn’t going to let us go.
KATHY TOMLINSON: She wasn’t sure she’d get in.
AMY GOODMAN: They took the passports and then said, “Pull over.”
KATHY TOMLINSON: You were flagged right off the bat?
AMY GOODMAN: Uh, yeah. [more...]