Arthur Porter, former chairman of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, claims the federal government covered up the capture and killing of a handful of Canadian spies. The government says the assertions are without merit. Photo: THE GAZETTE/Allen Mcinnis The federal government said Monday allegations that it covered up the capture and killings of a handful of “rogue” Canadian spies were “unsubstantiated” and “ridiculous.”
The allegations are contained in a new autobiography by Arthur Porter, the former chair of Canada’s spy agency watchdog committee, who is currently in jail in Panama facing extradition to this country on fraud charges connected to a McGill University hospital project.
In his memoirs, titled The Man Behind the Bow Tie, Porter alleges that a country “that was not exactly a close friend of Canada” captured a handful of Canadian agents who, without approval, had been taking photos of tanks and other military equipment. He does not identify the country or provide a time frame.
The agents were subsequently tortured and hanged, Porter wrote. “We had to keep the truth of how they died from their families, telling them instead that they fell off a balcony in Dubai, for example.
“None of these incidents ever made the papers, and they were not isolated incidents.”
Officials with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service have so far not responded to requests for comment.
An undated photo of former MUHC head Arthur Porter in Panama with an oxygen tank as he reportedly battles cancer. (illegalinlajoya.com)
In a statement Monday, Jason Tamming, press secretary for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, said: “We will not give credibility to the ridiculous, unsubstantiated assertions made by this individual from his prison cell in Panama.”
Asked if that was a flat denial, Tamming replied: “There is no merit to these allegations.”
Porter is currently in a Panamanian prison fighting extradition to Canada, where he faces accusations that, while he headed the McGill University Health Centre, he took part in a $22.5 million kickback scheme related to the awarding of a super-hospital construction contract.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Porter to a position on the Security Intelligence Review Committee, the agency that monitors CSIS activities, in September 2008. He later became chair of the committee.
In November 2011, Porter abruptly resigned as SIRC chair after the National Post published a story detailing his business dealings with a notorious international lobbyist, Ari Ben-Menashe.
With so many questions swirling around Porter’s credibility, “you have to question the judgment of the prime minister for appointing this individual,” Liberal public safety critic Wayne Easter said Monday.
Arthur Porter is being detained by authorities in Panama City. (Catherine Solyom/THE GAZETTE)
Easter said if Porter’s allegations regarding rogue agents being captured and killed abroad are not true, then the government should say so unequivocally.
Porter, who held “one of the most highly sensitive positions in Canada,” should also be investigated for possibly violating federal secrecy rules, Easter said.
Lindsay Jackson, assistant director of research for SIRC, confirmed that all members of SIRC are required to take an oath of secrecy under Section 37 of the CSIS Act. In addition, all current and former members are subject to the Security of Information Act.
Ray Boisvert, a former assistant director at CSIS, said Monday he could not confirm or deny Porter’s allegations because he would never comment publicly about any tactical or operational matters.
He did, however, question Porter’s motives. Porter is a “desperate man” who is talking about things that “true or not, made up or real, serve no purpose in my mind.”
Boisvert also suggested that Porter’s allegations so far have been “sufficiently vague” that it may be difficult for him to be charged with violating secrecy rules.
Dquan@Postmedia.com
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