CAJ outraged at attempt to seize videotape and photographs

OTTAWA - The Canadian Association of Journalists is outraged that the Montreal Police have issued search warrants to several Montreal media outlets in order to seize videotape and photographs of Monday night's post-game riot.

Police claim they need help in finding those responsible for about $600,000 in damage caused to vehicles and businesses in the downtown core following the Canadiens win in the final hockey game in the playoff series with the Boston Bruins.

The role of a journalist is to provide information to the public, not to the police or any other state body, said CAJ president Mary Agnes Welch.

"The Montreal police are in effect trying to deputize every journalist on the street that night," said Welch. "That's an attack on the free press itself, a misguided attempt that threatens to undermine our constitutionally protected role as independent observers."

The Canadian Association of Journalists is a professional organization with some 1,500 members across Canada. The CAJ's primary role is to provide public-interest advocacy and high quality professional development for its members.