Documenting difficult truths
In March 2025, Calgary-based author and political commentator Cory Morgan visited Siksika Nation to film a narrated video tour highlighting serious social challenges facing the community, including housing shortages, lack of access to clean water, crime, and poverty.
Mr. Morgan, a columnist with the Western Standard and widely followed online—with more than 68,000 followers on X and nearly 8,000 YouTube subscribers—filmed the video entirely from public roads and marked sites, including Sun College, historical landmarks, and a cemetery. Siksika Nation’s own bylaws confirm that “[a] Person travelling on a public road on or through the Reserve” has the right to access such spaces.
Trespassing tickets raise Charter concerns
After the video was published and began circulating widely online—amassing more than 38,000 views and generating both praise and criticism—Mr. Morgan was served with two $1,000 trespassing tickets by Siksika Nation Protective Services on April 9, 2025.
The Justice Centre is providing lawyers to Mr. Morgan to challenge these tickets in court. His legal team argue that Mr. Morgan did not violate any Siksika Nation bylaws. On the contrary, the tickets appear to have been issued in retaliation for Mr. Morgan’s public criticism of reserve conditions – expression protected by section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“First Nations are government entities obligated to respect the Charter rights of Canadians,” states constitutional lawyer Marty Moore. “The trespass tickets issued to Mr. Morgan do not appear to be based on his presence on Siksika land, but rather based on opposition to the views expressed in his videos. Mr. Morgan did not violate the trespass bylaw, and these charges appear to be an attempt to limit his Charter rights and freedoms.”
Standing Firm for Press Freedom
Mr. Morgan remains resolute, stating, “I am committed to exposing the conditions on Canadian Indigenous reserves while seeking effective system solutions to the problem. I will not let myself be intimidated by the Siksika band leadership, who appear to be more interested in hiding the realities of conditions on their reserve than improving them for residents.”
Mr. Morgan added, “I am grateful for the support of the Justice Centre in this action to preserve press freedom and rights of mobility.”
