Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is defending himself against accusations he triggered an investigation by city police into a journalist’s sources.
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La Presse reported that columnist Patrick Lagacé was targeted twice by city police for surveillance – once in 2014 and again this year.
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According to the La Presse columnist, the police opened a criminal investigation to determine which officers spoke to him, after he was looking into a ticket given to Coderre in 2012.
READ MORE: La Presse says Montreal police placed journalist Patrick Lagacé’s phone under surveillance
Coderre said Monday he contacted then-police chief Marc Parent in 2014 to ask questions after he was worried that he might be under surveillance.
He said the incident with Lagacé was the final straw in what appeared to be a string of leaks from police sources about him.
“Sometimes you rightfully have the capacity to ask questions. It doesn’t mean because you ask a question, you are saying go after that person,” he said. “I will never do that.”
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Coderre said he never asked Parent to investigate a reporter or another officer, but simply wanted to tell the chief he felt he was being unfairly targeted.
“I never mix police and politics,” he said. “No matter what some people try to interpret.”
But opposition parties insist he should apologize and acknowledge he made a poor decision.
“”What a total lack of judgement,” said Luc Ferrandez, interim leader of Projet Montréal and Plateau Mont-Royal borough mayor.
“A simple citizen that can make a convocation with the director of the police, who votes on the budget of the police, who can fire the director of the police at any time.”
“A simple demand by the mayor is not a simple demand by a citizen.”
“He can’t jump in and out of mayorship and citizenship as it suits him,`explained political analyst Karim Boulos.
“I think, when it’s something that involves him, he must recuse himself of his mayoral duties in a particular file.”
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– with files from The Canadian Press.