Accurate News and Information Act

by Government of Alberta

1. This Act may be cited as "The Accurate News and Information Act."

2. In this Act, unless context otherwise requires,—

(a) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Board constituted by section 3 of The Alberta Social Credit Act;

(b) "Newspaper" means a paper containing public news, intelligence or occurrences or remarks or observations thereon, printed for sale and published periodically in parts or numbers at regular intervals not exceeding thirty-one days between the publication of any two of such papers, parts or numbers, and includes a paper printed in order to be made public weekly or oftener, or at intervals not exceeding thirty-one days containing only or principally advertisements, and a paper containing accounts of events occurring within thirty-one days before the date of publication.

3.—(1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, every person who is the proprietor, editor, publisher or manager of any newspaper published in the Province, shall when required so to do by the Chairman, publish in that newspaper any statement furnished by the Chairman which has for its object the correction or amplification of any statement relating to any policy or activity of the Government of the Province published by that newspaper within the next preceding thirty-one days.

(2) Every such statement shall have written upon it a certificate in the following words: "The foregoing statement is published by the direction of the Chairman of The Social Credit Board," which certificate shall be printed at the foot of the statement to which it relates.

(3) Every such statement shall be printed with the type ordinarily used in the printing of the newspaper.

(4) Every such statement required to be published shall not exceed the length of the statement corrected thereby and such statement shall be given the same prominence as to position, type and space as the statement corrected thereby.

(5) Every requirement by the Chairman for the publication of any statement shall be in writing signed by the Chairman, and shall be deemed to have been duly made upon the receipt of the requirement together with the statements referred to therein at the office or usual place of business of any of the following persons, namely, the proprietor, editor, publisher or manager of the newspaper.

(6) Every statement so required to be published in a newspaper shall be submitted in the language used in the publication of such newspaper and shall be published in the next regular issue thereof after the day upon which the requirement for the publication thereof referred to in sub-section (5) is received at the office or usual place of business of any of the following persons, namely, the proprietor, editor, publisher or manager of the newspaper.

(7) No statement required to be published pursuant to this Act shall contain any notice or other matter the publication of which is required to be made pursuant to any other statute or which is ordinarily published as advertising.

4. Every person who is the proprietor, editor, publisher or manager of any newspaper, shall upon being required so to do by the Chairman in writing, within twenty-four hours after the delivery of such requirement at the office or usual place of business of any of the following persons, namely, the proprietor, editor, publisher or manager of the newspaper, make a return in writing setting out every source from which any information emanated, as to any statement contained in any issue of the newspaper published within sixty days of the making of the requirement and the names, addresses and occupations of all persons by whom such information was furnished to the newspaper, and the name and address of the writer of any editorial, article or news item contained in any such issue of the newspaper as aforesaid.

5. No action for libel shall be maintainable on account of the publication of any statement pursuant to this Act against any person who is the proprietor, editor, publisher, manager or printer of the newspaper publishing the same or against any employee of any such person or against any person on account of any subsequent publication of any such statement.

6. In case the proprietor, editor, publisher or manager of any newspaper has been guilty of any contravention of any of the provisions of this Act the Lieutenant Governor in Council, upon the recommendation of the Chairman, may by order prohibit,—

(a) the publication of such newspaper either for a definite time or until further order;

(b) the publication in any newspaper of anything written by any person specified in the order;

(c) the publication of any information emanating from any person or source specified in the order.

7.—(1) Every person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or who makes any default in complying with any requirement made in pursuance of this Act shall be liable to a penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars.

(2) Every person who contravenes any of the provisions of any Order in Council made pursuant to section 6 of this Act shall in respect of every such contravention be liable to a penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars.

(3) Any penalty which any person is liable to pay pursuant to any provision of this Act shall be recoverable either by suit brought by the Chairman in any court of competent civil jurisdiction, or upon summary conviction upon the information or complaint of the Chairman or of some person authorized in writing by the Chairman to lay such information.

8. This Act shall come into force on the day upon which it is assented to.