Some are demanding that Julian Fantino step down from his post as Ontario's top cop after threatening remarks he made to a well-known First Nations protester became public recently.

The OPP commissioner personally intervened in negotiations to end last summer's Aboriginal Day of Action, a demonstration in which protesters staged blockades along an eastern stretch of Highway 401 and a CN Rail line near Deseronto, Ont. to voice concern and anger over the standard of living on the province's reserves and unresolved land claims.

Fantino's controversial remarks were made to First Nations protest leader Shawn Brant while he was trying to an end last June's blockades.

Brant is facing nine charges in connection to the demonstrations and a publication ban on evidence given at his preliminary hearing was lifted last week, allowing the OPP commissioner's comments to be made public.

In transcripts of a recorded phone call Fantino tells Brant that he will do "everything I can within your community and everywhere else to destroy your reputation" and that his world would "come crashing down" if the standoff with police doesn't come to an end.

"We don't expect, in Canadian society, to put our lives on the line or to be targeted as the evidence says by Mr. Fantino," Brant said Tuesday. "We don't expect that that should be a life-and-death situation."

Court documents also allege the OPP planned to have snipers on standby and disguised officers as media cameraman to survey the protest sites.

Fantino formally responded to the publication of the transcripts Monday.

"I am disappointed that this matter is being portrayed by some in the media and the political arena as something other than the successful negotiation and peaceful resolution of an intense and possibly volatile situation," he said in a statement. "I am confident that the judicial process will determine the outcome of these criminal proceedings in a fair, impartial and unbiased manner."

The OPP commissioner said the provincial force follows conduct guidelines as laid out in recommendations from the Ipperwash Inquiry into the death of native protester Dudley George.

NDP MPP and justice critic Peter Kormos called Fantino's comments "bellicose" and "inflammatory" and accused the OPP boss of encouraging tension between police and the aboriginal community instead of quelling it.

"I think it's time for him to go," Kormos said. "He should either resign or be fired."

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty stood behind Fantino.

"I'm not going to speak to a matter that's before the courts; what I can say is that Commissioner Fantino continues to have my full confidence," he said. "He has worked long and hard under very trying circumstances for a very long time now and he has my support."

Brant insists he doesn't plan to pursue a lawsuit but said an apology won't suffice.

"We're tired of the apologies . What we want is real change, fundamental change in the way that this government and the police deal with First Nations people," he said.