Canada's top spy recently ran away at the mouth, revealing more information than he had intended, spilling the beans, letting the cat out of the bag, placing all of his cards on the table about Canadian politicians being unduly influenced by foreign operatives.Believing there's no use crying over spilt milk -- or secrets -- Richard Fadden, Canada's Spook-in-Chief, announced today that he won’t resign as a result of his faux pas.
Yes, that’s Canadian government in a nutshell:
(a) Filled with people completely unsuited for the jobs they hold;
(b) Wreaking untold havoc and embarrassing themselves in those jobs;
(c) Driven by a steadfast unwillingness to give up those jobs.
From The Star.com:
OTTAWA-In a surprise move, Canada’s chief spy stood by his comments that some Canadian politicians are being unduly influenced by foreign power.Maybe Canadians need to become foreign lobbyists in order to have any influence with our government. Canadian politicians and bureaucrats are certainly immune to anything the electorate has to say to them or about them. Citizens are now forced to take on different incarnations in order to be heard by their elected officials.
But while telling a parliamentary committee he regrets the making the candid remarks, Richard Fadden said emphatically he would not resign his position as CSIS director because he violated no law.
Expected to back away from comments made in a recent television interview, Fadden instead told the committee “it is a concern and a threat.”
. . .
In a speech recorded by the CBC TV and in follow up questions with CBC's The National, Fadden said that some Canadian politicians, including unnamed provincial cabinet ministers, and municipal employees are under the influence of foreign governments.
. . .
Fadden emphasized that his candid comments in no way threatened national security.
Inside the Hotdog Factory is now taking passport applications for its newly incorporated principality of Lobbyistan. As with Canada, the criteria for prospective citizens is wide open. If you breathe air, you’re what Lobbyistan is looking for!
In the meantime, if anyone reading this blog post works with Richard Fadden, be sure you don’t allow any secrets of any importance near him. I hear he has a problem with saying too much -- a distinctly unCanadian failing.
7 comments:
Did it occur to you that Richard Fadden's statements were calculated to discourage certain individuals from questionable actions who CSIS legally couldn't arrest? Even if that isn't the case you'd have to be living under a rock not to realize many foreign powers have an interest in influencing Government officials in Canada, and frankly I'm pleased that Richard Fadden is honest with the public about it. This isn't the first time a Canadian official has talked about spies within Canadian borders, and Canada has been the victim of A LOT of spy-related activity, as you can see in the references below.
- 01/24/2000 : Channel News Asia : Beijing Spies Stole Canadian Nuclear Secrets
http://www.fas.org/news/china/2000/e-01-24-00-22.htm
- 01/31/2000 : Asian Political News : Chinese spies reportedly stole Canada's nuclear technology
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2000_Jan_31/ai_59332184/
- 09/06/2002 : The National Post / Rense : Israeli Mossad Spies Accused of Posing as Canadians
http://www.rense.com/general29/cana.htm
- 09/19/2003 : Ottawa Sun / Cryptome : Nine Israelis face deportation: Spy agency suspects they may be foreign agents
http://cryptome.org/ca-il-spies.htm
- 06/15/2005 : CBC : Defectors say China running 1,000 spies in Canada
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/06/15/spies050615.html
- 06/16/2005 : CTV : Chinese spies cost Canada billions: Harper
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1118953947201_114363147/?hub=TopStories
- 04/16/2006 : Canada.com : Government vows to curb Chinese spying on Canada
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=ca90416e-fe77-4b8d-ae59-a4e9f55b6441&k=26688
- 05/09/2006 : Asian Pacific Post : Shhhh! Don’t speak about Chinese spies (This is an editorial written by Raymond Chan, the MP of Richmond, BC at the time)
http://www.asianpacificpost.com/portal2/ff8080810afb0f71010b1b6c2aaf012f_Editorial_Chinese_spies.do.html
- 12/28/2006 : The Moscow Times : Accused Spy Deported by Canada
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/accused-spy-deported-by-canada/199996.html
- 04/30/2007 : CTV : China is top espionage risk to Canada according to CSIS
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070430/csis_china_070430/20070430?hub=Canada0
- 04/30/2007 : The Star : China tops spy list: CSIS
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/208929
- 12/04/2008 : CBC : Financial intelligence uncovers foreign espionage in Canada
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/04/fintrac-espionage.html
- 03/30/2009 : CBC : Reported internet spy network just tip of iceberg: researcher
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/30/tech-090330-cyberspy-china.html
- 04/14/2009 : Dalje.com : More Foreign Spies Targeting Canada – Report
http://dalje.com/en-world/more-foreign-spies-targeting-canada---report/251072
- 09/25/2009 : The World : Canada as a top spot for spies
http://www.theworld.org/2009/09/25/canada-as-a-top-spot-for-spies/
- Take note of this quote from the following article, "since the end of the Cold War we moved from a military confrontation to an economic confrontation so everyone is fighting to try and acquire as much economic leverage as possible internationally -- which translates into political power and influence at the end," from former CSIS agent Michel Juneau-Katsuya, and consider what it says about our Government and its relationship with local, national and international corporations. Personally I've found it strange that we trust corporations with sensitive information, but freak out at the thought of a foreign Government having such information -- especially since a corporation's allegiance to the almight dollar means they're just as likely to sell a country and its people out to satisfy stock holders or gain an economic advantage themselves.
http://www.trinustech.com/news/17-uncovering-canadian-corporate-spies
That's an impressive list of links.
Nothing occurred to me other than that Richard Fadden is a schmuck.
Typical of Canadian law that is allows spies to operate legally in this country. With feebs like Fadden on the job, they must be skating circles around us.
Fadden wasn't honest with the public, he admits it was a mistake saying what he said. That's not honesty. He just accidentally told the truth. There's a difference.
He only admitted having made a mistake after public outcry toward what he said, which doesn't strike me as a real admission.
It seems most likely to me his original comments were calculated, and Richard Fadden has nothing to do with lawmaking or "typical of Canadian law that (is) allows spies to operate legally in this country."
Richard Fadden is the only individual in the Canadian Government to openly discuss, even to such a small degree, what is obvious: foreign entities have been attempting to influence Canadian Government officials. This make him more trustworthy in my opinion that the majority of politicians who would rather the public live with their heads in the sand.
I never stated that Fadden had any part in making law. I was speaking of the law in general -- in all it's flaccid, retarded, loop-hole-ridden weakness.
If there's a Canadian official as calculating as you say Fadden is -- to make statements to head-off trouble -- then great. I don't believe such a creature exists.
I think it's hilarious (in a very unfunny way) that Canada's top spy spilled the beans. Also, that it seems everybody EXCEPT Canadians has influence with our government.
I still hope REAL secrets are withheld from Fadden, just in case he's not the calculating master spy some believe him to be.
To be clear, I think Fadden is a schmuck for saying "Fadden told the committee he lost track of the fact that CBC was recording the speech he gave to the Royal Canadian Military in Toronto on March 26, when he first publicly raised the issue of foreign influence."
Lost track of the fact CBC was recording him?
That's schmucky.
Lighting a fire under politicians? That's cool.
Saying "I really didn't think I was giving away any state secrets." Schmucky. He should be more sure than that!
Putting politicians on notice he knows what they're up to -- cool.
Yes and I never meant to imply you had specifically stated Fadden had anything to do with the lawmaking process. You had made a comment about Canadian law allowing this sort of spying, and given that this is a topic about Fadden's comments I clarified the point. I agree that in a general sense, it's pretty weak that Canadian law makes way for foreign (and domestic) espionage.
I certainly didn't get the impression that "everybody EXCEPT Canadians has influence with our government", especially given that Fadden specifically stated it was only a two to four MP's that were thought behaving under the influence of foreign powers.
I do agree that it's pretty lame that he's backpeddling now however.
He only said what we all suspected anyways. Whatever.
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