OTTAWA—The Commons will vote Wednesday on a bill that would for the first time in Canada provide statutory protection for whistleblowers and other sources who speak to journalists on condition their identity not be revealed.

Its passage is almost certain now that Bill S-231 has received the support of all three main parties in the Commons and the Liberal government.

The Journalistic Source Protection Act was introduced as a private member’s bill by Conservative Sen. Claude Carignan after revelations that Quebec and Montreal police had conducted widespread surveillance of journalists’ communications in an effort to plug leaks. The scandal prompted outrage and a public inquiry in that province.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, which have made its defence of democratic freedoms a badge of honour, agreed to support the bill last spring with certain amendments.

Duncan Pike, a spokesman for Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, said it would be “a historic day for press freedom in Canada.”

“By adopting the bill, Parliament will be taking a strong stand for media rights, and bringing Canada closer into compliance with international standards for the protection of sources.

“Canada is one of the only industrialized countries in the world that lacks legislation for the protection of journalists’ sources,” he said.

Under the proposed law, police would gain access to journalists’ source material only as a last resort, if there were no alternative means to obtain the information.

It would amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Evidence Act to provide that a judge could only approve a search warrant or production order after a closed hearing in which police or the state agency seeking the information would have to meet two tests: that there is no other “reasonable” means to obtain the information; and the public interest in the investigation and prosecution of a criminal offence outweighs the journalist’s right to privacy in gathering and disseminating information.

Even then, the information that could reveal a journalist’s source would remain sealed. Reporters and their news organizations would be notified and given the right to appeal any move by police to access information gathered from such investigations. A police officer could not examine, reproduce or make copies of a document obtained under a search warrant unless a judge was satisfied the same conditions were met — that there is no other way to obtain the information and the administration of justice outweighs the journalist’s right to claim confidentiality.

Finally, the bill would add an amendment to the Criminal Code so that lower-level justices of the peace would not be able to issue search warrants relating to journalists — as it happened in Quebec. Only a judge of a superior court of criminal jurisdiction could issue a search warrant relating to a journalist, after giving serious consideration to the journalistic and public interests at play.

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