Jun 29 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Bill Blair said that while serving as public safety minister it was his job to gather information about how the RCMP was responding to the worst mass shooting in Canadian history, but he did not interfere politically in the investigation. Blair, who is now serving as emergency preparedness minister, was dogged by questions from reporters […]
Jun 28 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Canada’s electronic spy agency says it’s used its arsenal to try and stop foreign extremists from recruiting Canadians and sharing violent material online. The acknowledgement is nestled in the Communications Security Establishment’s annual report made public Tuesday, which points to recent cases where it flexed its cyber muscles. While the details are largely sanitized in […]
Jun 23 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government had questions about the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia but remained adamant his government did not interfere in the investigation. His comments come as two Mounties in Nova Scotia claim there was political pressure coming from Ottawa over what to say in the aftermath of the […]
Jun 22 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair is casting doubt on the Nova Scotia Mountie who suggested Commissioner Brenda Lucki interfered in the investigation into the largest mass shooting in Canadian history. The former public safety minister’s comments come as the political firestorm around the head of the national police force spills into a second day. That […]
Jun 21 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The head of the RCMP is denying a claim by a fellow Mountie that she tried to direct the information investigators released as part of their probe into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia. That allegation was contained in handwritten notes from Nova Scotia RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell which were released Tuesday as part […]
Jun 16 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Canada’s chief justice says the safety of the Supreme Court of Canada building needs to be taken more seriously following this winter’s convoy protest in downtown Ottawa. Earlier this year, protesters rallying against COVID-19 restrictions parked trucks along Wellington Street — the location of both Parliament Hill and Canada’s top court — for more than […]
Jun 16 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The RCMP is updating its statement of “core values” for the first time in a quarter century by adding references to “reconciliation,” “diversity,” “honour” and “empathy.” Insp. Alex Laporte, the RCMP ethics officer leading the team working on the new guiding principles, said the document is meant to act as foundation for the entire organization […]
Jun 9 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Canadian border officers have been reprimanded for hundreds of acts of misconduct over the past two years — including preferential treatment and criminal association — according to documents obtained by CBC News. Details of the cases — all of which were deemed founded — were released under access to information law and cover the period […]
Jun 6 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — A Liberal backbencher wants to introduce a bill that would set out new consequences for Canada’s spy agency and government lawyers who aren’t forthcoming in their requests for judicial warrants to conduct national security investigations. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has been admonished more than once in recent years for falling short on what the […]
May 27 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — The federal government has given RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki new marching orders to boost recruitment, review the Mounties’ use-of-force techniques and ask officers to move quickly to remove firearms from potentially dangerous situations of intimate partner violence. In a new mandate letter sent by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino Friday morning, the top Mountie is […]
May 24 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Canada’s intelligence community will have to grapple with the growing influence of anti-democratic forces in the United States — including the threat posed by conservative media outlets like Fox News — says a new report from a task force of intelligence experts. “The United States is and will remain our closest ally, but it could […]
May 19 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Violent extremists in Canada have the “intent and capability” to commit acts of terrorism, but detecting attacks by lone actors or small groups before they happen is “difficult,” says an internal threat assessment conducted for the federal government last year. The warning is found in a threat analysis prepared by the federal government’s Integrated Terrorism […]
May 11 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki says she sees no double standard in the way Mounties policed the Freedom Convoy protests and blockades earlier this year compared to the tactics they have used with Indigenous protesters. During a heated exchange in a committee meeting Tuesday night, NDP MP Matthew Green asked about the scenes that played out […]
May 11 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — Canada’s spy agency was concerned extremists might commit violence and recruit members when the Freedom Convoy rolled into Ottawa earlier this year, its director told lawmakers on Tuesday night. But David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said he could not provide specific examples, citing classified intelligence. “We have seen a number […]
May 9 2022 — Catharine Tunney — CBC — An attempt by members of Parliament to find out more about the RCMP’s use of controversial facial recognition software hit a wall Monday as one MP accused police officials of being “intentionally evasive.” The standing committee on access to information, privacy and ethics met this morning to continue its study of the use of the […]