October 31, 2006
Kamloops Daily News

There are so many FBI agents in Canada that they are having
trouble keeping track of them says the inspector-general of
the FBI, Glenn Fine.

The number of agents in Canada is growing. In one year,
agents had to investigate 7,000 tips on Canadian terrorists.

Agents are so keen to find those thousands of terrorists in
our midst that they are entering Canada illegally. In his
audit, the inspector-general found 135 instances where FBI
agents had entered Canada without proper clearance.

FBI agents can't just pack their guns and badges and drive
across the border. They are supposed to get special
permission from Canada. Without this clearance, agents
violate our firearms, immigration, espionage laws.
Some agents have even failed to let U.S. Embassies know of
their entry into Canada.

The FBI is convinced that Canada is a haven for terrorists
despite the fact that none of the attackers on September 11
came from Canada. The FBI has opened two new offices in
Toronto and Vancouver. Canada has more FBI agents than any
other county outside the U.S.

This unlawful intrusion doesn't worry Public Safety Minister
Stockwell Day. When he learned that FBI has given agents
from its Buffalo office permission to conduct "routine
investigations" up to 80 kilometers into Canadian territory,
he responded "I can assure you that everything that is done
on Canadian soil in relation to security and safety
investigations are done in accordance with our law."

It's a chilling thought that our Minister of Public Safety
condones the investigation of Canadian citizens by foreign
agents who are here illegally, particularly when that
foreign government condones torture and holds detainees
without trial.

RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli is not concerned
either. He says that documents containing activities of
alleged Canadian terrorists are not shared with the FBI.
But Zaccardelli fails to mention that no documents are
required when the FBI sits in the same room in which
allegations are openly discussed, something that happens
regularly.

The RCMP are not playing on a level playing field. No
corresponding meetings take place in Washington in which our
agents from CSIS and the RCMP are invited to listen in on
meetings of the FBI. Nor do they secretly slip across the
border to investigate American citizens.

We should be worried about our irrational, warlike,
neighbour to the South.

As we learned in the Arar case, a casual remark from the
RCMP is enough for the U.S. to send a suspect off to be
tortured. And the Bush administration has recently
legalized irrationality with the passage of the Military
Commissions Act.

This new law institutionalizes torture and detention without
trial. Now the information gained by FBI agents while
attending joint meetings of police in Canada can be legally
used against Canadian citizens. President Bush
administration should be ashamed of his country's violations
of human rights throughout world perpetrated in the name of
the "war on terror." Instead, congress has given its stamp
of approval.

Amnesty International's assessment of the new law is blunt:
"Congress has turned bad executive policy into bad law."

You might think that Canadian police would object to the
illegal entry of foreign agents who use questionable
techniques to investigate Canadians. But no, our police
seem to be under the thrall of misguided zeal.

FBI director Robert Mueller recently praised Canadian police
for their compliance. At his recent visit to the new FBI
office in Toronto he commended our police for the flow of
(sometimes incorrect) information. Mueller's commendation
comes at time that the RCMP says the opposite; that they are
restricting the flow of information of the kind implicated
Arar.

I don't know if Americans feel more secure knowing that
their agents are investigating thousands of suspected
Canadian terrorists. Their presence seems like a hostile
act of a foreign country to me.


David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca

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