An ex-RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking secrets is expected to argue he had the authority to disclose the sensitive information.
The trial of Cameron Ortis, the former director-general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre (NICC), is scheduled to begin today and run over the next two months.
Ortis’s arrest three years ago sent shockwaves through the Canadian intelligence community. As a senior official in the RCMP’s intelligence unit, Ortis had access to some of the country’s most sensitive criminal intelligence – from Canadian agencies and from close allies.
The 51-year old is facing four counts of violating the Security of Intelligence Act. In his capacity, he was known as a person “permanently bound to secrecy” at the time of the alleged offences in 2015. Ortis is also facing a charge of breach of trust and the unauthorized use of a computer.
The charges have not yet been proven in court, and few details about the allegations against Ortis can be publicly reported at this time.
Jon Doody, a lawyer on Ortis’ defence team, said in an interview they intend to argue that the ex-RCMP analyst was authorized to share the information he’s alleged to have leaked.
“That’s really going to be the crux of the case, both for the Crown and the defence. The Crown is going to prove that he didn’t have authority (to release the information), and we’re going to demonstrate he did,” Doody told Global News.
If convicted by a jury, Ortis would face significant jail time. But aside from Ortis’ fate, the information disclosed over the expected eight-week trial will be of keen interest to both Canadian national security watchers, as well as the country’s international allies, which routinely share sensitive information with Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
“We haven’t prosecuted a lot of these cases, so I think it’s going to be a test for our judicial system as to … our ability to prosecute these offences,” said Stephanie Carvin, a former intelligence analyst who now teaches international affairs at Carleton University, in an interview with Global News.
“There’s also always concerns about Canada’s international reputation … Canada is an intelligence consumer, and if we can’t be shown to prosecute individuals that violate the principles of their oath and their ability to keep secrets, that can raise serious questions about intelligence sharing.”
Carvin added that Canada is hardly alone among allies in having alleged intelligence leaks, but said the case could send a message to security partners Canada depends on for intelligence.
Ortis joined the RCMP in 2007 as a civilian member, and quickly rose up the ranks to take over the NICC in 2016.
Charges under the Security of Information Act are rare.
In 2013 Jeffrey Delisle, a former junior intelligence officer with the Royal Canadian Navy, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he plead guilty to selling secrets to Russian operatives. It was the first test of the Security of Information Act, which updated Canada’s official secrets laws after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Delisle began selling Western military secrets to his Russian handlers in 2007, but wasn’t caught until 2011 after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation tipped off Canadian intelligence. Over that time he received more than $111,000 from Russian agents.
Delisle was granted full parole in 2019.
Another former RCMP official, William “Bill” Majcher, was charged with two counts of violating Canada’s official secrets law, allegedly to benefit the Chinese government between 2014 and 2019. Majcher retired from the force in 2007 and was based in Hong Kong until his arrest.
Majcher’s lawyer told Global News this week that he was still waiting for disclosure from Crown attorneys ahead of his next court date in October.
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