Former intelligence officials warn politicians to open eyes to realities of espionage

OTTAWA · Politicians considering a foreign spy service for Canada must do so with their eyes wide open to the deadly serious and misunderstood realities of espionage, a new study says. The paper, by former Canadian intelligence officials Alan Barnes and Geoff St. John, argues that romantic notions of spying must be set aside. It is being published this month by the Policy Insights Forum as the federal government updates its national security strategy. "Virtually no Canadian knows how espionage is actually done," the paper says. "Romantic, facile notions predominate. Those bemused, or deceived, by the fictions of page and screen would benefit by learning how espionage is really done." Barnes, a former analyst and manager with over 25 years in intelligence, is a senior fellow at Carleton University. St. John, a retired member of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch, directs the national security studies program at the Policy Insights Forum.

The authors urge policymakers to first discard the exploits of fictional spies like James Bond. "Ninety-nine per cent of all espionage fiction is pure junk," the paper says. "Ian Fleming’s Agent 007 exploits are pure fantasy. Bond films are not documentaries." Espionage involves hostile, undercover acts to learn things otherwise unknowable, actions that break the laws of the country where agents operate.

The paper distinguishes between intelligence officers who work for an agency and the foreign agents they recruit to ferret out secrets. It uses the example of trying to learn what senior generals say about invading a neighbour. "In the Hollywood version, one of your intelligence officers would infiltrate the meeting and report what was said. This is rank nonsense. The obstacles are insurmountable," the authors write. "Far better to suborn one of them, or perhaps the note taker, or an official who gets the meeting notes, to learn what transpired."

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The fundamental question is what purpose a Canadian espionage agency would serve, the paper says. Often that question takes a back seat to enthusiasm for simply having a spy agency. "Instead, the discussion should start by identifying the fundamental requirement, ‘Canada has a vital need for information on X which can only be obtained through espionage’, before proceeding to consideration of the practical issues," the paper says. The authors note that no espionage agency Canada could afford could replace the flood of raw information received from allies. "A Canadian espionage agency might be able to generate several hundred reports a year. And then it could only report on selected, narrow areas of Canadian interest, not all our interests," the paper adds. Canada already has some foreign intelligence capabilities through the Communications Security Establishment, Global Affairs Canada and the military.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is permitted to gather foreign intelligence only within Canada, not overseas. Since the Second World War, Canada has regularly considered creating its own version of the CIA or MI-6. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is currently examining Canada’s foreign intelligence gathering capabilities. The exposure of Canadian espionage operations would have diplomatic, political and economic repercussions, the authors warn. The foreign affairs minister and diplomats would have to deal with the fallout. "In some cases the diplomatic response might be limited to the expulsion of diplomats. But the repercussions could be more severe if the foreign country targeted by Canada’s spies was otherwise considered a friend," the paper says.

The foreign agents spying for Canada would face severe risks. "At best, if caught passing on secret material to a Canadian intelligence officer, he or she can expect a long prison sentence. At worst, the agent may be tortured and executed. It is a certainty that one or more agents spying for Canada will be found out eventually," the paper says. Canadian intelligence officers would also face risks, with those operating under non-official cover facing greater dangers. Foreign governments might also use the existence of a Canadian espionage agency as a pretext for arresting Canadian citizens and claiming they were spies. The authors conclude that getting espionage right is very difficult and requires significant political will, the right targets, and careful management.

With files from The Canadian Press, Winnipeg Sun and CityNews