The Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal, infamous for its racism, casual brutality and occasional homicides, has declared war on the profession of journalism.

The SPVM’s trademark thuggery against reporters has been an issue for some time. But now a new line has been crossed: with the help of an eager-to-please judge, it has been surveilling journalist Patrick Lagacé through his iPhone in an attempt to discover his sources.

Perhaps, if they haven’t worn themselves out fighting for the “right” of faux-journalist Ezra Levant to attend and disrupt a UN meeting on climate change, Canadian journalists’ organizations might turn their attention to these latest police-state tactics against a real one. We can hope.

UPDATE: And…this case appears to be the thin edge of the wedge.