"All Charges Dropped for HMC Journalist Miles Howe"

One of the few journalists covering First Nation protests against fracking in New Brunswick -- and regularly arrested for doing so -- saw charges against him dropped for a third time in February. Now the Canadian Association of Journalists asks whether the RCMP are trying to intimidate journalists.

"K'JIPUKTUK (Halifax) - On February 27, the day before he was scheduled to appear in court in Moncton, Halifax Media Co-op journalist Miles Howe found out that the charges relating to his November 26 arrest had been dropped.

'It's always a relief,' says Howe, who by this time is familiar with the feeling.

Howe has been arrested three times since he began covering anti-shale gas protests in New Brunswick less than a year ago. Each time, the charges were subsequently dropped, but Howe's ability to do his job as a journalist was significantly hindered in the interim.

The pattern raises questions about the RCMP's treatment of journalists that 'get in the way,' according to Hugo Rodrigues, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists."

Hillary Bain Lindsay reports for Halifax Media Co-op March 6, 2014.