With the spotlight on China’s interference in Canadian elections, the case of Cameron Ortis, the former RCMP spy master who was charged in 2019 with violating the Security of Information Act, is still hidden in the shadows. He was released on bail in December and is set to be tried in October, but the details of the case, likely involving China, have been hidden from the public. They should be disclosed immediately.

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Diane Francis: We've only scratched the surface of foreign interference and espionage Back to video

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“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,” CBC News reported last year.

“RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki has said that, by virtue of his position, Ortis had access to intelligence gathered by both Canadian authorities and foreign allies.”

His arrest shocked Canada’s international allies and tainted the country’s reputation because Ortis had access to intelligence from the Five Eyes military-intelligence alliance — which consists of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — and law enforcement agencies involved with ongoing criminal investigations.

Ortis, who is fluent in Mandarin and a cybersecurity expert, joined the RCMP in 2007 and was nicknamed “James Bond” because of his international connections. He monitored the dark web used by organized criminals and terrorists and was eventually promoted to director general of the RCMP’s cybersecurity division.

Now, over three years after he was arrested, Canadians still largely remain in the dark. In May 2020, an article in American Military News written by a retired CIA official spelled out the seriousness of this case.

“A potential Chinese spy infiltrated the highest levels of the Canadian intelligence service which is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The implications extend far beyond the borders of Canada,” wrote Brad Johnson. “Canada already received a warning back in 2013 that unless it tightened security procedures, Five Eyes would withhold the shared classified information.”

The Ortis incident has further destroyed the country’s reputation as a reliable security partner. It certainly doesn’t help that Ortis has been released on bail.

A military source, who asked to remain nameless, said in an interview that Ortis is being “watched closely” by both the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as well as by America’s Central Intelligence Agency while he awaits trial in Canada. But many questions remain unaddressed by Ottawa and Canadians have a right to know which countries or organizations Ortis is accused of selling secrets to.

Another espionage case surfaced in October, when Norway arrested a suspected Russian spy who spent years as a “student” with an assumed identity in Canada. According to the Guardian, the suspect lived in Canada for years, “studying at Canadian universities with a focus on Arctic security issues … and in 2019 published an article in the Naval Review journal on the need for Canada to establish a permanent naval base in its Arctic territory, arguing Nordic nations — and Russia — had already done so.”

Once more, the Canadian public has been kept in the dark about an espionage scandal inside our own country. Such secrecy in a democracy is unacceptable and should be the subject of a parliamentary inquiry into Chinese, and likely Russian, interference and espionage on Canadian soil.

Financial Post