RCMP investigating federal gov't contracting

Canada's RCMP has at least six ongoing investigations into irregularities in federal government procurement contracts, its commissioner has told the House of Commons.    

RCMP Has ‘Multiple’ Open Investigations on Federal Contracting Irregularities, Commissioner Says | Epoch Times | Matthew Horwood:

June 19, 2024 - "The RCMP currently has over six investigations open into irregularities around federal procurement, its commissioner confirmed during committee testimony on its investigation into the ArriveCan app.

“'This committee, and Canadians, are looking for answers and accountability around ArriveCan,' RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme testified before the public accounts committee on June 18. 'The RCMP has multiple investigations underway into these matters,' he added.... Mr. Duheme said the force has 'more than six' investigations open in regard to irregularities around federal procurement. 'That'd be as precise as I can get,' he said.

"When Conservative MP Garnett Genuis asked how many police investigations there were into government corruption, Mr. Duheme did not answer the question directly, but said it was 'too early' to refer to the cases as corruption. 'We are currently investigating several files that are looking at the procurement process that could lead to an element of corruption. But at this point in time, I’m not saying that we’re anywhere close to that. And again, I don’t want to get into any details,' he said.

"There have been months [of] committee hearings into the ArriveCan application, which was used to check the COVID-19 vaccination status of travellers crossing the Canada-U.S. border. 

"A report by the auditor general in February found that the application cost an estimated $59.5 million to develop, but that record-keeping was 'so poor' that the precise cost of it could not be determined. The report also found that agencies like the Canada Border Services Agency, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Public Services and Procurement Canada failed to follow 'good management practices' in the contracting, development, and implementation of ArriveCan.

"Back in October 2023, the RCMP confirmed it was conducting an investigation into the potential misconduct of three companies that worked on the ArriveCan app — GC Strategies, Dalian, and Coradix — but not ArriveCan specifically.... On April 16, the RCMP raided the home of GC Strategies managing partner Kristian Firth as part of its investigation into allegations from Botler AI, a tech company that did not work on ArriveCan but was contracted for a separate project through GC Strategies. Mr. Firth was admonished by the House of Commons the next day for his failure to answer a government committee’s questions on the app."

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/rcmp-has-at-least-six-open-investigations-on-federal-procurement-irregularities-commissioner-says-5671414

Government refers suspected contractor fraud to RCMP, more cases could be coming | CBC News: The National | March 26, 2024:

Coutts conspiracy trial gets underway in Alberta

After being held in custody without bail for more than two years, Canada's Coutts 4 – now the Coutts 2, after charges were dropped against two of the alleged conspirators – are finally getting their day in court in Alberta. 

Lawfare Comes to Canada as the Coutts Four Get Their Day in Court | Newsweek | Gord Magill: 

June 18, 2024 - "A trial is currently underway in Canada, and the rights of every Canadian citizen are at stake. Tony Olienick and Chris Carbert are facing farcical charges stemming from their participation in a peaceful protest against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's COVID-19 response.... Olienick and Carbert are the remaining two of a group of political prisoners arrested in Canada and held without bail since the Freedom Convoy in 2022. 

"The Freedom Convoy was a populist revolt against Trudeau's authoritarian approach to COVID-19 in the form of a mass act of civil protest led by truck drivers. To combat this peaceful protest, the largest of its kind in Canadian history, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to suspend civil liberties across Canada, freezing bank accounts and laying numerous spurious charges against hundreds of peaceful protesters. Olienick and Carbert were arrested February 13, 2022 in Coutts, Alberta, at a Freedom Convoy protest site the day before Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, along with two other men. 

"The group came to be known as the Coutts Four, and they stand accused of some damning charges — conspiracy to murder police officers among them. The charges are completely bogus, yet throughout Canada, early reporting about the men painted them in such a negative light that that many people have presumed them guilty. Their assumed guilt is tied up with Trudeau's larger effort to legitimize the use of the Emergencies Act against peaceful protestors; an inquest into Trudeau's suspension of civil rights surrounding the Freedom Convoy hinges on a conviction in the case of the Coutts Four.... Complicating this effort is the fact that two of the four men were released from prison and had all the original charges against them dropped....

"Olienick and Carbert have been kept in a form of carceral purgatory called 'remand' since being arrested for exercising their once-protected rights to protest. In this purgatory, where they do not have the normal rights afforded convicted felons, they have been denied access to necessary medical care, among other indignities, and Olienick had spent over 90 days in solitary confinement, which is considered torture in most civilized societies.

"Olienick and Carbert's trial finally got underway earlier this month. What little coverage there has been of the trial proceedings has focused on testimony from the undercover officers who were casing the protesters. There is nothing by way of corroborating evidence or recordings of what the accused are alleged to have said, and the Crown's case relies entirely on a negative interpretation of their words based entirely on claims made by the undercover officers.

"The story comes apart under the lightest scrutiny: A group of young female undercover officers were ostensibly sent in to investigate protesters tarred as extremists, who their superior officers suspected of having weapons and an intent to kill them. Yet these officers were sent in with no wires or recording devices of any kind, and no weapons to defend themselves. Does this not raise some pertinent questions? Who authorized this undercover operation? Was it not convenient to make these allegations, given that the day after these men were arrested, the Emergencies Act was invoked? Why has it taken 28 months for such an important case to get under way? Why did two of the co-accused, Jerry Morin and Chris Lysak, have all of the original charges against them dropped?...

"Media coverage of this case has done a great disservice to the Canadian public in not asking these questions. Instead, the media has been cheerleading for a conviction before all the evidence is in by repeating the unsubstantiated claims of the officers and failing to report any countervailing evidence or context crucial to understanding the story....

"If the Canadian government can level ridiculous and baseless charges at people, throw them in jail for over two years while denying them bail for trumped up political reasons, and then have their friends in the media smear the accused, what right to protest does anyone have? What right to free speech, or to any other civil liberties? The trial of these men in Alberta, like the trial of Donald Trump, raises serious questions about our democracy. It is clear that those in our ruling class would rather control the narrative so that you don't ask them."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/lawfare-comes-canada-coutts-four-get-their-day-court-opinion-1913946

Witness testimony day 3 at Coutts 2 trial | Thursday, June 13, 24 | Landon Hickok | Bridge City News | June 13, 2024:

Protests across Canada over carbon tax hike

Canadians mount Freedom Convoy-styled protests against carbon tax True North | Rachel Emmanuel:

April 1, 2024 - "Thousands of Canadians from across the country are gathering along highways, provincial borders, and Liberals MPs’ offices in a Freedom Convoy-styled protest against the federal carbon tax. The tax rose to 17 cents per litre of gasoline, 21 cents per litre of diesel and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas on Monday, Apr. 1.

"Event organizers at various locations told True North that demonstrators are prepared to stay for weeks in hopes of swaying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to remove his costly tax. 'We’re going to be camping out. There’s no departure date, let’s put it that way,' organizer Elliot McDavid told True North at the Calgary protest. The demonstration saw around 400 attendees by Monday morning, with more arriving each minute....

“'A week, two, three — whatever it takes,' organizer Miranda Courts told True North at the protest in Loydminister along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Around 500 attendees showed up there to protest the tax. That demonstration featured a pancake breakfast, coffee, and a warming shack.

"Demonstrators at the Nova Scotia–New Brunswick border succeeded in slowing traffic to a near standstill, according to the RCMP. Hundreds of cars and trucks lined both sides of the highway, with the RCMP eventually closing the road and diverting traffic to a detour. 

"Another 30 protesters picketed Ontario Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell’s office.... Another several hundred demonstrators arrived in Ottawa and chanted “freedom” in French and English. The demonstration took place on Parliament Hill and included speeches. 

"Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told supporters last month that he wanted them to organize protests at the officers of Liberal and New Democrat members of Parliament to pressure them into stopping the carbon tax hike.... The Conservatives introduced a non-confidence motion in the government over the tax, but it was blocked by all of the other parties in the House of Commons. Poilievre [was] set to host his own 'spike the hike' rally in Nanaimo, B.C. Monday evening."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2024/04/01/convoy-styled-anti-carbon-protests/

Cross-country protests greet carbon tax increase | CBC News: The National | April 1, 2024:

Redacted RCMP report warns of civil unrest

A secret RCMP report is warning the federal government that Canada may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the bleakness of their economic situation.

Secret RCMP report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are | National Post | Tristin Hopper:

March 20, 2024 - "A secret RCMP report is warning the federal government that Canada may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the hopelessness of their economic situation. 'The coming period of recession will … accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations,' reads the report, entitled Whole-of-Government Five-Year Trends for Canada. 'For example, many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live,' it adds.

"The report, labelled secret, is intended as a piece of 'special operational information' to be distributed only within the RCMP and among 'decision-makers' in the federal government. A heavily redacted version was made public as a result of an access to information request filed by Matt Malone, an assistant professor of law at British Columbia’s Thompson Rivers University, and an expert in government secrecy....

"[T]he report authors warn that whatever Canada’s current situation, it 'will probably deteriorate further in the next five years.' In addition to worsening living standards, the RCMP also warns of a future increasingly defined by unpredictable weather and seasonal catastrophes, such as wildfires and flooding. Most notably, report authors warn of Canada facing 'increasing pressure to cede Arctic territory.'

"Another major theme of the report is that Canadians are set to become increasingly disillusioned with their government.... 'Law enforcement should expect continuing social and political polarization fueled by misinformation campaigns and an increasing mistrust for all democratic institutions,' reads one of the report’s 'overarching considerations.'

"Ironically, among the report’s more heavily redacted sections is one carrying the subtitle 'erosion of trust.' 'The past seven years have seen marked social and political polarization in the Western world' reads a partial first sentence, with the entire rest of the section deleted by government censors.

"The censor’s pen also deleted most of a section warning about 'paranoid populism.' 'Capitalizing on the rise of political polarization and conspiracy theories have been populists willing to tailor their messages to appeal to extremist movements,' reads the section’s one non-redacted sentence.

"In terms of declining living standards and inaccessible home ownership, the RCMP’s warnings are indeed in line with available statistics. Canadian productivity — measured in terms of GDP per capita — has been trending downwards since at least the 1980s. But this has accelerated dramatically in recent years.... Meanwhile, housing affordability has reached 'worst-ever' levels in most of Canada’s major markets, according to a December analysis by RBC. On average, even condos are now so unaffordable that only 44.5 per cent of Canadian households had sufficient income to buy one at current prices. As for single-family homes, only the richest 25 per cent of Canadian households had any hope of obtaining one.

"'Economic forecasts for the next five years and beyond are bleak,' reads the RCMP’s assessment of the rest of the decade."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/secret-rcmp-report-warns-canadians-may-revolt-once-they-realize-how-broke-they-are

Read redacted report: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24467543/rcmp-5-year-trends-report.pdf

RCMP Warn of an ANGRIER Canada in New Report | The Elev8 Podcast | March 20, 2024: 

Winnipeg virus lab scientists worked for China

Scientist couple who worked at Winnipeg virology lab shared information with Chinese military and Wuhan Institute, Canadian intelligence documents reveal. 

Lies and scandal: How two rogue scientists at a secret lab triggered a national security calamity | CBC News | Catharine Tunney:

March 2, 2024 - "The release ... of hundreds of documents related to the dismissal of two scientists — Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng — has pulled back the curtain on an explosive national security probe at the Winnipeg-based National Microbiology Lab, part of the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health (CSCHAH). The investigation — and the fight to make information about the investigation public — took years.

"According to Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) documents, the agency's National Security Management Division was advised in September 2018 that Qiu had been listed as the inventor on a Chinese patent that might have contained scientific information produced at the CSCHAH in Winnipeg — and that she shared that data without authority.... Qiu, then head of vaccines and antivirals with the CSCHAH's zoonotic diseases and special pathogens division, said she didn't know her name was on the patent.... The National Security Management Division also began an investigation into allegations that Cheng also had breached security policies in relation to students under his supervision.... 

"On July 5, 2019 Qiu and Cheng were told they were subjects of an administrative investigation and ordered to stay home. At that point, their access cards and computer accounts were deactivated. By February 2020, PHAC had determined the couple violated multiple policies by, among other things, shipping antibodies outside of the lab without authorization — including to the China National Institute for Food and Drugs — and failing to monitor restricted visitors who were later accused of removing government property without permission.... Alarmed by the findings, PHAC sent its administrative report to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which reopened its security assessment of Qiu and Cheng..... 

"The documents show the service's initial assessment of the couple in April 2020 gave them the benefit of the doubt.... But by June of 2020, CSIS felt differently — and was armed with evidence. In a document drafted that month and released this week, CSIS wrote that Qiu was using the level 4 lab in Canada 'as a base to assist China to improve its capability to fight highly-pathogenic pathogens'.... CSIS said Qiu applied to China's Thousand Talents Program for the stated purpose of helping the People's Republic of China build up its infectious disease research. Beijing's Thousand Talents Program was set up to 'boost China's national technological capabilities and may pose a serious threat to research institutions, including government research facilities, by incentivizing economic espionage and theft of intellectual property,' said CSIS in its report.... 

"CSIS said Qiu told 'outright lies'.... The intelligence service also said it believed Cheng was not truthful in his interviews and had worked with a restricted visitor at PHAC 'who is connected to the People's Liberation Army'.... Taking CSIS's findings into consideration, PHAC suspended the couple's security clearances — a condition of their employment — in August of 2020.... Their dismissals were announced in January 2021....

"CBC has made multiple attempts to contact Qiu and Cheng. The Chinese embassy in Ottawa has denied that China stole Canadian information....

"After opposition parties spent years demanding access to government documents about the case, the federal government released hundreds of redacted pages on Wednesday. The government initially opposed releasing the bulk of the information, arguing that it would be detrimental to national security. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would instead share the documents with the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), which is made up of MPs who are appointed by the prime minister.... In June 2021, opposition parties voted to declare the Liberal government in contempt of Parliament over its refusal to release the documents. The federal government then took the Speaker of the House of Commons to court to get a judge's confirmation that it has the legal authority to withhold documents requested by members of Parliament sitting on a Commons committee....

"On Thursday, Prime Minister Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre traded shots over the case. Poilievre accused Trudeau of allowing China to 'infiltrate' Canada and covering it up by delaying the release of the documents.... Later that day, Trudeau accused Poilievre of weaponizing national security....

"The RCMP says it's still investigating the matter."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/winnipeg-lab-firing-documents-released-china-1.7130284

Scientists fired from Winnipeg lab shared information with China, documents say | CBC News: The National | February 29, 2024:

Ex-RCMP officer charged with foreign interference

A retired RCMP officer has been charged with having "contributed to the Chinese government's efforts to identify and intimidate an individual outside the scope of Canadian law."

Retired RCMP officer charged in foreign interference case | CBC News:

July 21, 2023 - "A retired RCMP officer has been charged with foreign interference, the Mounties said in a news release Friday. William Majcher, 60, 'allegedly used his knowledge and his extensive network of contacts in Canada to obtain intelligence or services to benefit the People's Republic of China,' the RCMP in Montreal said in the news release.

"The release alleged that Majcher 'contributed to the Chinese government's efforts to identify and intimidate an individual outside the scope of Canadian law.' The alleged foreign interference did not involve elections or politics, an RCMP spokesperson said.

"Cpl. Tasha Adams told Radio-Canada that Majcher works for a firm based in Hong Kong that was collecting information about an individual in Canada. That information was being gathered on behalf of China, which wanted to target the person in question, Adams said. She added she did not know the nationality of the person being targeted. Police said Majcher is from Hong Kong. 

"He appeared in court in Longueuil, Que. by videoconference on Friday. He is charged with preparatory acts for the benefit of a foreign entity and conspiracy. Both alleged offences fall under the Security of Information Act....

"The RCMP said their Integrated National Security Team (INSET) launched an investigation into Majcher's "suspicious activities" in fall of 2021.... David Beaudoin, the head of Montreal's INSET, told CBC the investigation was launched through a complaint-driven process, but the complaint didn't come from the victim. Beaudoin said Majcher was arrested Thursday in Vancouver, but the investigation is taking place in Quebec because Majcher spent most of his RCMP career in B.C.... 'Because of those links, the national security program of the RCMP deemed it necessary to assign the file to a different unit,' he said.... 

"Majcher's LinkedIn page says he worked on a number of money laundering investigations as a covert operator while serving with the RCMP. In 2006 he moved to Hong Kong, where he has been working as a risk assessment adviser for the investment banking sector, says his LinkedIn profile. 

"According to his profile on the Hong Kong-based website Speakers Connect, Majcher founded a corporate risk firm called EMIDR in 2016. EMIDR's website lists state-sponsored espionage, intelligence gathering and money laundering as some of its areas of expertise. It also says the firm specializes in asset recovery.

"An Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) article from 2019 said Majcher was part of Project Dragon, a Chinese operation to recover money allegedly siphoned out of the country illegally. In the article, Majcher ... told ABC that he was working for a third-party "entity" that was associated with Chinese police "in some form or another." Adams told CBC the evidence 'appears' to suggest the Chinese government was one of Majcher's clients. But Beaudoin said the RCMP is unable to state whether these charges are related to Majcher's past employment."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-officer-foreign-interference-1.6913872

Former RCMP officer charged with foreign interference on behalf of China | CBC News: The National | July 22, 2023:

RCMP investigating alleged Chinese meddling

Canada's national police are investigating more than 100 cases of alleged foreign interference in Canadian politics.

Canada police investigating China meddling claims | BBC News | Nadine Yousif:

June 14, 2023 - "Canadian police have opened an investigation into allegations China sought to intimidate a member of parliament and his family. The RCMP commissioner said on Tuesday the investigation is one of several by the federal force looking into foreign election interference....

"Last month, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat over the allegations. In retaliation, China accused Canada of 'slander and defamation' and expelled a Canadian diplomat based in Shanghai.

"Canada's spy agency [CSIS] believes China sought details about [Conservative MP Michael] Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong in an effort to deter 'anti-China positions' ... after the politician put forward a motion in parliament in 2021 that declared China's treatment of its Uighur minority population a genocide. China denied the accusations and sanctioned Mr Chong shortly after.

"On Tuesday, RCMP interim commissioner Michael Duheme told a parliamentary committee in Ottawa that is probing foreign interference that the police force was only made aware of the allegation related to Mr Chong through Canadian media. A series of media reports, many based on leaked intelligence briefings and information accusing China of attempting to interfere in Canadian elections, have been published in recent months.

"'When we were made aware of it, we approached Mr Chong and began the investigation,' Mr Duheme told federal lawmakers. The investigation is one of more than 100 current RCMP probes looking into foreign interference within Canada, he said. The RCMP is also assisting election officials with investigating allegations of meddling by China in the last two federal elections.

"Former Conservative party leader Erin O'Toole, speaking in the House of Commons last month, claimed he had been the target of a misinformation and 'voter suppression' campaign by the Chinese government. Jenny Kwan, a member of parliament for the left-leaning New Democratic Party, has also said she was targeted by China after accusing Beijing of human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. 

"China has consistently denied any allegations that it attempted to interfere in Canadian politics.... The expulsions and allegations of Chinese election interference in Canada have led to a significant deterioration in relations between Ottawa and Beijing."

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65897821

RCMP investigating claims China intimidated MP Michael Chong | CBC News: The National | June 14, 2023:

Alleged Chinese police stations received Canadian government funding

A Quebec charity suspected of hosting two secret Chinese overseas police stations has received more than $4 million from the Canadian government.  

Secret Chinese police stations ‘funnel Canadian public funds’ | The Telegraph - David Millward:

May 21, 2023 - "A Quebec charity suspected of hosting two secret Chinese 'overseas police stations' has received more than $4.45 million (£2.65 million) from the Canadian government over the last three years. According to the Montreal Gazette, the Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal (SFCGM), which purports to provide support to the Chinese community, is really used by Beijing to monitor and intimidate its citizens in Canada. 

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believe this is one of two secret police stations in Quebec, which has nearly 92,000 people of Chinese origin. There has been growing anxiety about the network of secret Chinese police stations across the world, which are accused of routinely harassing exiles on behalf of Beijing’s authoritarian regime....

"Most of the cash came from Quebec’s Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration.... The ministry has since halted all remaining contracts with the group. Official records in Canada also show there were five contributions from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to the group. An ESDC spokesman said it had given $25,000 to the New Horizons project, which helped elderly Chinese people to use the internet to keep in touch with their families. Other donations included cash from the government’s Canada Summer Jobs programme, which provided employment for students.

"Benjamin Fung, spokesman for the pro-democracy group Action Free Hong Kong Montreal, said these schemes were typical of those used by Beijing to keep an eye on its citizens overseas. 'If this is really a police station from China, they can use the funds to expand their network and their connections,' he said. 'This is also one way to monitor the many international Chinese students that are here.'

"Tasha Adams, a police spokesman, said the RCMP was investigating the SFCGM as part of a larger investigation intended to 'detect and perturb criminal activities supported by a foreign state that can threaten the safety of people living in Canada'. However, SFCGM criticised the Canadian police in a statement on its website, warning that the inquiry could cause 'serious and potentially irreparable harm to the community'. 

"It is believed Beijing has established a network of dozens of stations abroad, including in Canada, the UK and the Netherlands. 

"Last month, it emerged that RuiYou Lin, a 40-year-old businessman who was allegedly connected to a secret Chinese police station in Croydon, south London, was also a prominent fundraiser for the [UK] Conservative Party. Mr RuiYou is vice-chairman of the Chinese Group for the local Conservative association in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency. He has been pictured with Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Sajid David.... When asked about his involvement, Mr RuiYou said he had been 'set up' by a rival company.

"Last month in the US, the FBI arrested two Chinese Communist Party agents who were allegedly operating two such stations in the heart of New York City. According to New York prosecutors, the Chinese National Police directed one of those arrested, who was a US citizen, to locate a pro-democracy activist living in California. The two men have been charged with obstruction of justice and accused of destroying evidence, as well as conspiring to act as agents of the People’s Republic of China." 

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/05/21/secret-chinese-police-stations-canada-public-funds/

RCMP investigating alleged Chinese police stations in Quebec | CTV News | March 9, 2023:

RCMP Investigating leaks, not election meddling

Canada's RCMP is not looking into CSIS reports of illegal election interference by the Chinese government recently leaked to the media, but is investigating the leaks as violations of the Security of Information Act.

RCMP investigating media leaks on foreign interference | North Bay Nugget - Catherine Lévesque:

March 6, 2023 - "The RCMP is investigating possible violations of the Security of Information Act associated with recent media leaks about foreign interference in Canada’s elections. The federal police sent out a statement confirming the launch of the investigation on Monday, specifying that the investigation is not focused 'on any one security agency' but provided no other details on the scope of the investigation or when it started.... 'As the RCMP is investigating these incidents, there will be no further comment on this matter at this time,' said Cpl. Kim Chamberland, spokesperson for the RCMP in an email.

"This announcement comes a little over two weeks after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was first asked about top-secret documents viewed by the Globe and Mail about Beijing’s alleged interference and said he expects Canada’s spy agency to take these leaks seriously. 

"Global News also revealed, based on intelligence sources, that Trudeau had allegedly ignored the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) warning that Liberal MP Han Dong was helped by the Chinese consulate during the 2019 election. Trudeau has pushed back against these allegations saying, 'it is not up to unelected security officials to dictate to political parties who can or cannot run'.

"Speaking on Monday evening, Trudeau said the RCMP was not directed by his office nor by his government to look into the media leaks."

Read more: https://www.nugget.ca/news/rcmp-security-violations-media-leaks-foreign-interference

RCMP not investigating 2021 election meddling allegations, MPs told | CBC News - John Paul Tasker:

March 2, 2023 - "While multiple media reports have detailed allegations of foreign interference, including attempts to co-opt candidates, the top bureaucrat at the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday there are no active RCMP investigations underway into the last election. 'I can confirm that the RCMP is not investigating any of allegations that are arising from the last election,' Shawn Tupper, deputy minister at the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, told a committee of MPs studying foreign election inference.

"Jody Thomas, the prime minister's national security adviser, told MPs on the procedure and House affairs committee that she and other officials have routinely briefed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about election interference by China — she called Beijing the 'greatest threat' — and other bad actors... She declined to provide specifics about the interference, saying it would be inappropriate in light of strict national security laws that require secrecy....

"Former CSIS director Richard Fadden told CBC News Network's Power & Politics that he is somewhat surprised at the lack of criminal charges. Fadden said that while CSIS investigations might not provide enough evidence to hit the high bar required for criminal charges, he was surprised the RCMP is not investigating in light of recent media reports alleging foreign interference. 'If everything that was written by your colleagues in the media is taken as accurate, I'm a little bit surprised that there's not something there,' Fadden told host David Cochrane."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/public-inquiry-chinese-election-interference-1.6764577

CBC breaks news of Mountie's offline website

Canada's state-funded news outlet, CBC, has decided to turn an internal RCMP investigation into a Mountie's offline website and erased YouTube channel into a national news story.  

B.C. Mountie's anti-Trudeau website raises concerns about discriminatory views within the RCMP | CBC News - Brady Strachan:

January 11, 2023 - "RCMP are investigating after a police officer in Trail, B.C., launched a satirical, political website called the Church of Trudeau mocking the Prime Minister and funding of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities. (churchoftrudeau.org)

A B.C. Mountie's anti-Trudeau website is causing waves in a small West Kootenay community and raising concerns about political bias among the ranks of the RCMP. The Church of Trudeau website was online last November and early December and featured theatrical performances by a man dressed up as multiple characters in what appears to be satirical political commentary about the Prime Minister and what the site referred to as 'left-wing Liberal ideologies.' CBC News has confirmed the identity of the man in photos and videos on the website as Trail, B.C., RCMP officer Brent Lord through a source familiar with the website and its contents. The RCMP says it is aware of the site and the matter is under review. 

"In one of four videos CBC News has obtained, Lord plays the role of a character he calls Father B, and professes to be 'the High Prophet of the Church of Trudeau" as he explains what the website is about, stating, "our religion teaches the importance of socialism, of cancelling everyone that offends anyone, of being woke and highly emotional.' A YouTube channel associated with the site that was scrubbed of content in December once stated, 'our goal is to convert sinful conservatives who belong to a fringe minority with unacceptable views into entitled socialist liberals just like us.' Lord does not mention his job as a Mountie....

"The website's contents and the views expressed by the officer are concerning, according to Trail Mayor Colleen Jones, who said she has had 'multiple conversations with the Trail RCMP detachment commander about it. 'It's definitely not anything a community wants,' Jones said.... 

"To Kash Heed, a former West Vancouver police chief and former solicitor general and minister of public safety, the political nature of the website is not in line with the standard of conduct expected of a police officer. 'The RCMP should be investigating this as a code of conduct breach for this particular member,' he said.... Heed likened the officer's political statements in the videos to cases last year of police officers expressing support for the Freedom Convoy movement and donating money to the organizers, which resulted in the officers being charged with misconduct and in one case demoted for their actions."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/anti-trudeau-website-rcmp-trail-b-c-1.6684902

State media CBC decides BC Mountie’s anti-Trudeau website is 'discriminatory' | Western Standard - David Krayden 

January 12, 2023 - "If you needed more reasons to stop funding the CBC to the tune of $1.6 billion a year, look no further than how the state media covered the story of the RCMP member from Trail, B.C. who was running an anti-Trudeau website in his spare time. The line between opinion and news is not just blurred at Mother CBC, it is invisible.

"The website isn’t even active anymore but you can find it on the Internet Archive. 'His gospel explains why belonging to a fringe minority with unacceptable views is not tolerable and how Conservatives are always trying to deceive Canadians with silly words such as government debt, scandals, inflation, and other such nonsense,' reads the website. Do we have a problem here? Well, the CBC does. It ran a 'news' story under the headline of “B.C. Mountie's anti-Trudeau website raises concerns about discriminatory views within the RCMP.” 

"So now it’s discriminatory to oppose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies? This is a satirical website to boot. But Liberals and progressives never have any sense of humour when they're the target of the jokes.... 

"Lord also cites Trudeau’s latest LGBTQ initiative, noting '$35 million in new project funding support aimed at addressing specific barriers to 2SLGBTQ+ equality. Now I'm not as smart as Justin Trudeau so I don't really understand what that means, but it sounds really good and if Justin Trudeau has implemented it then it really makes sense.... I trust you Justin, I trust.' This must be one of the 'marginalized communities' the CBC fears is being maligned by the website. It really is time to stop pretending LGBTQ people are in anyway marginalized in a society where the gay lifestyle is celebrated in print, television and film. Homosexual men and lesbian women on average make more money than their heterosexual counterparts and I have never been able to locate the 'gay community' on the map anyway. They don’t all vote Liberal and most would tell the federal government they don’t need to be funded as some kind of needy group. 

"CBC also found a former BC solicitor general/public safety minister and West Vancouver police chief to comment on the story. Kash Heed must also be a member of Thought Police because his words are truly Orwellian. 'We need to make sure we're hiring the right people and we have the policies, discipline and supervision in place to detect these types of behaviours and deal with them in a swift fashion.' Uh huh. We can’t have people thinking for themselves. 

"Do you think for a moment if this RCMP officer were sponsoring a pro-Trudeau website that lauded the government's immigration "policies and identity politics that the CBC would be fretting so? No, of course not."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/krayden-state-media-cbc-decides-bc-mountie-s-anti-trudeau-website-is-discriminatory/article_ddc804de-9286-11ed-b162-3bd2ce660b66.html

Alleged RCMP spy gets bail after 3 years in jail

RCMP official accused of breaching Canada's secrecy law released on bail | CBC News:

December 21, 2022 - "After three years behind bars awaiting trial, Cameron Ortis, the RCMP official accused of breaching Canada's secrecy law, has been released on bail.Justice Robert Maranger presided over the bail review and delivered his decision in Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday. The reasons behind his decision and the evidence and testimony heard in court during the review hearing are all covered by a publication ban.

"Ortis, who served as director general of the RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre, is charged with violating the Security of Information Act. He is accused of trying to share sensitive information with a foreign entity or terrorist organization and also has been charged with sharing operational information in 2015. Ortis was briefly released on bail and ordered to live with his parents in Abbotsford, B.C., in October [2019; see Background - gd], before his bail was revoked. He's been in custody ever since.

"Ortis is scheduled to go to trial in October 2023."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ortis-bail-decision-rcmp-1.6693469

Background

Alleged RCMP spy Cameron Ortis ordered back to jail pending trial | CBC News - Catherine Tonney:

November 8, 2019 - "Today, Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Labrosse revoked the 47-year-old's bail, ordering the head of RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre back into custody. Labrosse's reasons and the details of the Crown's review application are covered by a publication ban, along with the evidence and submissions heard during the bail hearing.

"Ortis was released on bail to his parents' care in Abbotsford, B.C. on Oct. 22. He was forbidden from using any device that connects to the internet and told to report to an RCMP detachment every week. The court heard the Crown's application for a bail review last week. It was granted."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cameron-ortis-rcmp-spy-espionage-1.5353144

"The smartest guy in the room: Cameron Ortis and the RCMP secrets scandal" - The Fifth Estate, CBC, December 8, 2020: 

How a high-stakes gambler set authorities on the trail of accused Canadian spy Cameron Ortis | CBC News - Scott Anderson, Andrew Culbert, Bob McKeown:

December 7, 2020 - "A high-stakes American gambler who is an FBI informant and goes by the nickname Robin Hood 702 played a key role in a series of events that eventually led the RCMP to charge their head of intelligence, Cameron Ortis, with leaking secrets. R.J. Cipriani, whose nickname incorporates the 702 Las Vegas area code, built his reputation by winning money in casinos and donating much of it to worthy causes. 

"But in 2011, he was asked to gamble money in Australia by former U.S. college football player Owen Hanson.... [F]earing he was being drawn into criminal activity, he went to the FBI. That led to Hanson being charged and convicted of drug trafficking.... Police discovered six encrypted cellphones Hanson had purchased from Richmond, B.C.- based Phantom Secure, a company the RCMP had been investigating for allegedly supplying encrypted technology to organized crime. The FBI then joined with the RCMP and Australian police in an investigation of Phantom Secure. Ortis is alleged to have offered Phantom Secure secret information.

"In March 2018, the FBI arrested Phantom Secure CEO and founder Vincent Ramos in Washington state. Federal police in Australia also raided several locations and seized more than 1,000 Phantom Secure cellphones. In Canada, the RCMP executed search warrants on Ramos's home and business addresses in British Columbia, but it is still unclear what they seized. It appears the RCMP information to obtain the warrants has been sealed. 

"At the time of the Ramos arrest and raids, the RCMP said little about the case and it received scant media attention in Canada. But that changed 18 months later when the RCMP arrested their own intelligence chief, Cameron Ortis, in part for allegedly leaking operational information to Ramos."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cameron-ortis-rcmp-spy-espionage-1.5353144

Coutts Alberta residents question police narrative

On Feb. 14, 2022, the RCMP arrested 14 Freedom Convoy protesters in Coutts, AB, charging 4 with conspiracy to murder police - which the Trudeau government used to justify invoking the Emergencies Act that day. But some who know the men aren't buying the official narrative.

‘Somebody Planted the Guns’: In Canada, a Raided, Distrusting Village Blames the Police | New York Times - Catherine Porter:

September 24, 2022 - ""So pervasive is the belief here that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a dictator-in-the-making that ... many residents of the village, Coutts, Alberta, think the biggest event that occurred here in recent memory — when the police raided a local home in February and revealed a frightening cache of weapons — was a hoax perpetrated by the police to silence an antigovernment protest.... 'It may have been a conspiracy,' said Bill Emerson, who for four decades has lived across the street from the home the police raided....

"The police raid came during the time of Canada’s Freedom Convoy, which began as a movement by truckers to challenge a government vaccination mandate but spread to include a wide array of antigovernment grievances. The stark contrast between the mainstream account of what happened — the police disarming a small group of protesters with violent intentions — and the conspiracy-fueled one — a government attempt to demonize the protesters — reflects a burgeoning polarization of Canadian society....

"The Freedom Convoy movement — that aimed at one point to replace the federal government with a ruling committee including protesters, [not true - gd] and which Mr. Trudeau dismissed as a 'fringe minority' with 'unacceptable views' — is hardly a fringe. Months later, it garners the support of one in four Canadians, according to a recent poll, and some of its beliefs have entered mainstream politics. 'We have crossed a Rubicon, and there ain’t no going back,' said Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. 'Canada hasn’t faced something like this, especially not in a long time. How do we deal with a movement that wants to dismantle democracy?'

Coutts, Alberta (upper) and Sweet Grass, Montana. Aerial photo by Joe Mabel, 2013. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

"Coutts is a small border village 185 miles southeast of Calgary.... Before last winter, the village’s faint claim to fame was a mention by President Obama of its baseball fields, which nose right up against the international border.... Then, one frigid day last winter, hundreds of tractor-trailers and trucks rumbled down the highway to the village’s edge and stopped, blocking all lanes leading to the normally busy border crossing. They were a splinter group of the Freedom Convoy.... In Coutts, the village’s only bar, shuttered by the pandemic [restrictions - gd], was reopened to be their headquarters.

"All the while, scores of provincial police, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, kept watch. Over 17 days, 552 officers were assigned to the village of just 224, according to the mayor. On the fourteenth evening of protest, when a local church was holding a Sunday service in the bar, the police arrived in full military gear, wielding automatic weapons, and arrested two men in the crowd. Later that night, they executed a search warrant on a house, where a local woman was hosting many protesters. Over a few hours, the police arrested 14 people. Most were charged with mischief over 5,000 Canadian dollars, or about $3,700, and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. But four men face a far more serious charge — conspiracy to commit murder, which carries a potential life-in-prison sentence.

"Undercover officers witnessed the set up of what they believed to be a delivery of guns to Coutts, search warrants reveal.... A photo of the cache of weapons [police] seized included rifles, handguns, high capacity magazines, ammunition and bullet proof vests. All four of the men charged with conspiracy to commit murder are middle-aged, blue collar workers from Southern Alberta. A day before the police raid, one of them, Jerry Morin, recorded a video on Facebook, calling his friends to Coutts to help 'hold the line.' 'There’s no excuses,' said Mr. Morin, a 40-year-old who installs and repairs electrical lines. 'This is war'....

"The day of the raid, [the Trudeau] government passed a sweeping emergency bill, granting police wide powers to arrest protesters, and instructing banks to freeze accounts linked to the convoy. Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino pointed to Coutts as part of the justification.... 

"Marco Van Huigenbos, the main leader of the Coutts protest, is so convinced that at least two of the four men are not guilty, he is subsidizing their families with 10,000 Canadian dollars a month. The money is from leftover funds raised in Coutts.... 'They are using these guys to send a message,' said Mr. Huigenbos, a town councilor and business owner from nearby Fort Macleod, who himself was recently charged with mischief over 5,000 Canadian dollars. 'There is political influence here.'"

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/world/canada/freedom-convoy-coutts-alberta.html