Bi-Weekly Briefing- 6-20 January 2021
Siege of the U.S. Capitol and Terrorist Listings
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the invasion of the U.S. Capitol building that occurred on January 6th in Washington, D.C. where pro-Trump rioters sought to disrupt the presidential election certification process. Trudeau referred to the events as “an assault on democracy”. Concerns abound in Canada as its closest ally and largest trading partner experiences a volatile transition of power, provoking renewed vigilance around Canada’s own commitment to democracy and protecting the rule of law.
Parallel rallies took place during the Capitol protests in Canadian cities, including Toronto and Vancouver. In Toronto, a convoy adorned with Trump flags drove through the city, deliberately passing by the U.S. consulate. A small group of protestors gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza. Protestors held signs displaying their support of Trump, their disdain for the media, and calling for an end to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne lauded “the peaceful transition of power [as] fundamental to democracy”.
The protests have ignited new discussions about adding extremist groups such as the Proud Boys to Canada’s terrorist entity list. The Proud Boys are an ideologically-motivated violent extremist group, increasingly seen as a potential domestic terrorist threat to Canadian security. Founded by Canadian Gavin McInnes, the group is often identified with white nationalist imagery. They self-describe as “Western Chauvinists”, and often make use of “anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric”. The group featured prominently at the Capitol protest, with Proud Boys’ social media accounts dislaying clips of members brawling with U.S. Capitol police during the siege.
According to Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair, national security officials in Canada continue to gather intelligence on these and other extremist groups. The leader of Canada’s NDP party Jagmeet Singh openly expressed his desire for the Proud Boys to be labelled as a terrorist organization, citing the group as “helping execute the Capitol attack”.
In 2019, for the first time, two right-wing extremist groups were added to this list, the neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour, and its violent enforcement wing Combat-18. These groups now face heavy restrictions, including criminal sanctions against those who attempt to help finance the terrorist organization, and making prosecution easier.
National Defence Report Predicts Rise in Extremism Longer Pandemic Persists
The Department of National Defence’s research arm, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), published a report highlighting the potential for external consequences related to the Covid-19 pandemic measures.
DRDC pursues a mandate to provide strategic knowledge and technological capabilities to the Canadian Armed Forces, government departments, and the national security community. The report was developed to inform NATO and its member states of the security challenges related to pandemic restrictions.
The report suggests a correlation between extended Covid-19 restrictions - including physical distancing, limiting non-essential travel and restrictions on business operations - and growing far-right extremism. DRDC suggests the speed of vaccinations will influence economic recoveries and trust in government institutions.
DRDC also hypothesizes an increased trend of distrust between citizens and the government the longer the pandemic persists. If the pandemic ends in 2021, considered in the report the best case scenario, trust may be maintained or strengthened for international and scientific institutions. If the pandemic continues on through 2023, DRDC predicts a degradation of international cooperation, the “misuse of information by individuals and/or states to generate panic and distrust”, and an increase of authoritarian principles of some politicians. This would be compounded by an increasing segment of the public willing to accept authoritarian policies in hopes they may provide greater control of the pandemic. If we reach the baseline (2023) or worst case (2025) scenarios for the end of the pandemic, the DRDC predicts an increase in the prevalence of right-wing extremism.
The Future of Canadian Troops in the Middle East
The Government must determine what, if any role, the Canadian Armed Forces’ mission in Iraq will play in the region going forward. The current mission is set to end March 31, with more than 500 personnel still active in several Middle Eastern countries. When pressed, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan stated that Canada must remain a “reliable partner” in the region. The end of the fiscal year will see the $1.39 billion in funding for the Middle East strategy expire.
Cameron Ortis Update
Cameron Ortis, former director-general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre, is alleged to have sold national security secrets to a global money laundering kingpin. Cameron Ortis had been one of the highest ranking civilian officials within the RCMP, and their most senior intelligence official. Ortis was originally arrested in September 2019 facing eight counts under the Security of Information Act, including Section 14(1) which makes it a crime to share “special operational information”, and can include providing unauthorized identification of encryption and cyberespionage methods.
Sam Cooper of Global News reports that the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was investigating Pakistani national Altaf Khanani Khanani for overseeing a narco-terror global money laundering scheme which used “money mules and currency exchanges...to collect cash for drug cartels” and terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda. The DEA investigation was part of a Five Eyes probe into the activities of this money laundering operation. The allegations against Ortis claim that he offered to sell the “RCMP’s special operational plans to the Khanani network in 2015”. The implications of this alleged betrayal are far reaching. A U.S. official related to the Khanani investigation stated that “it creates distrust in the whole foundation of international intelligence sharing”, and that Ortis assisted in “billions of dollars of money laundering tied to terrorist organizations that have killed hundreds of thousands of people”.
Ortis is also accused of reaching out to currency vendors involved in the probe to assist them in evading investigation. The FBI, RCMP, and DEA had been working in tandem to investigate a British Columbia-based firm Phantom Secure and its CEO Vincent Ramos. Further investigation reportedly uncovered communications between Ramos and Ortis, with Ortis offering to sell the RCMP’s plans for an investigation against Vamos for a significant sum of money.
Security Officials Not Consulted on Chinese Firm Procurement
Global Affairs Canada procured equipment from Chinese firm Nuctech for the purpose of protecting Canadian diplomats and embassies. Nuctech had previously received authorization from Procurement Canada to provide security equipment. A September 2020 review by Global Affairs found that Chinese X-ray machines offered a variety of opportunities for attack, including the collection of information and photographs at embassies.
Procurement Canada paid the Chinese firm, with close ties to the Chinese military, $6.8 million for the “delivery, installation, operator training and software” for the machines, to be used at Canadian embassies globally. GAC spent $250 000 for Deloitte to review the Procurement Canada arrangement, with Deloitte finding a general lack of consultation with security experts through the procurement planning process. Deloitte recommended greater consultation with security experts when purchasing equipment. GAC had advised former Foreign Affairs minister Francois-Philippe Champagne that such security protocols were unnecessary as the X-ray machines were incapable of storing data, where one of the requirements for this equipment is the ability to store and transfer data. A July 20, 2020 security review drew connections between Nuctech and bribery cases in Africa and Taiwan, and they are also “accused of selling their products at a loss as part of a long-term strategy of dominating the market”. GAC, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Public Safety Canada and the Communications Security Establishment are reviewing and modifying the procurement process, with the Nuctech offer being retracted. Procurement officials did not rule out the potential for future acquisitions from Nuctech.