For the better part of 2016, the Montreal police department has been tracking the cell phone of La Presse journalist and CJAD 800 contributor Patrick Lagacé.
According to the newspaper, at least 24 surveillance warrants were issued by Judge Josée de Carufel allowing police to monitor the numbers on all incoming and outgoing calls, text messages, and even activate the GPS on Lagacé's iPhone.
During a meeting last week, the SPVM explained to Lagacé they began tracking him after his number came up during an internal investigation into allegations members of the anti-gang squad were tampering with evidence to obtain warrants.
One of the suspected officers had been in contact with the reporter, and investigators said several articles involving his cases were printed in La Presse in the days following the calls. However none of the articles were written by Lagacé himself.
It was then that the police department got its first warrant for Lagacé's phone, starting a new investigation into breach of trust, looking for evidence of information leaks.
Authorization for the phone tap was given by former Chief Inspector of Internal Affairs of the SPVM, Costa Labos.
In a statement, La Presse Deputy Editor Eric Trottier called the spy tactics an attack on the public's right to information.
He said one of the cores of journalism, especially investigative journalism, is to have credible sources who are willing to trust a reporter in order to reveal information that is of public interest.
With the SPVM allowed to access all of Lagacé's phone data, all of those sources were compromised.
Trottier said this type of monitoring clearly infringes on the freedom of the press, a fundamental part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
He added, while this revelation is worrisome, it doesn't end there.
When asked by the newspaper during its meeting, the police could not confirm that it is not monitoring any other journalist's phone, regardless of media outlet.
Patrick Lagacé can be heard weekdays on the Aaron Rand show at 5:35 P.M.