A group of Canadian journalists is calling on Ontario's minister of safety and correctional services to order the Ontario Provincial Police to stop impersonating reporters.
It was recently revealed that an undercover provincial police constable pretended to be a journalist at a Mohawk rally held in conjunction with the aboriginal day of protest in 2007.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression says in a release that the tactic threatens the safety of real reporters, as well as their ability to gain access to stories and sources.
The organization says when undercover officers pose as journalists they undermine the public's trust in the media and infringe on the public's right to a free press.
The officer told a preliminary hearing for Mohawk protester Shawn Brant that there are no guidelines telling officers what roles they can play while undercover.
The organization has called on Rick Bartolucci, the minister responsible for provincial police, to step in and direct the force to never again impersonate journalists.
"Surely, there are enough police resources and proven investigative procedures available that misrepresentation and underhanded tactics such as these do not have to be used," Arnold Amber, the organization's president, wrote in a letter to Bartolucci.
