# "The Canadian government, including CSIS itself, is befuddled"



## Edward Campbell (12 Sep 2009)

Here, reproduced under the fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from today’s _Ottawa Citizen_, is a rather long “book review:”

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/spies+love/1986281/story.html


> The spies who love us
> *Canada is the world's No. 1 destination for foreign agents, who steal military and political secrets and up to $30 billion worth of research each year, according to a new book.*
> 
> By Ian MacLeod, The Ottawa Citizen
> ...



I have not read the book yet – it hasn’t been released, but I can recall, many years ago, but wile I was still serving in the CF, a warning about a very aggressive and effective *French* industrial spying campaign that appeared to have achieved some results in the telecom/IT sector.

I worked, post military career, in a technical field and I was visited, perhaps 10 years ago, by CSIS for a discussion about Chinese spies – especially amongst the many Chinese graduate students in our universities. There were rumours about Asian shopkeepers being “paymasters” and “cut-outs” (is that the right word?) for Chinese students who were bringing them “commercially confidential” information about Canadian telecom technology.


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## George Wallace (12 Sep 2009)

The majority of Canadians are living in denial........."These things just don't happen here"


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## aesop081 (12 Sep 2009)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> The majority of Canadians are living in denial........."These things just don't happen here"



Must be Haper's fault somehow.


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## leroi (12 Sep 2009)

Thank you Mr. Campbell for bringing this book to my attention.

That is a chilling report. 

This book will be on my "must read" list.

It sounds like a book that should be included in our university library collection ...


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## George Wallace (12 Sep 2009)

leroi said:
			
		

> It sounds like a book that should be included in our university library collection ...



If what is in the book is true, it would never remain on the shelf......In fact it would probably be signed out and overdue by one of said foreign agencies.  Can't have any of Canada's young impressionable minds put two and two together.


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## exspy (3 Oct 2009)

Guys,

I don't even know where to begin.  Yet one more exposé provided by former CSIS member Michel Juneau-Katsuya.  Tales of espionage, billions of dollars lost, assassinations, hockey player spies and, of course, inaction by the government and the Service.  sigh.......

It's not that Michel keeps putting these stories out, but that persons who should know better (and on this forum there are many who pretend that they do) take it all in as gospel.  

First, everything (and I mean everything) that Michel has put forward and is being reported in the review of this book has been written about in the open press previously.  None of it is new and Michel will never be able to reveal anything that is.  There are very real penalties in place for revealing classified information by ex-Service employees.

Second, never stand between Michel and a television camera or press reporter.  You'll be trampled as he rushes to be interviewed and quoted.

I could go on and on, but why bother.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Okay, go spend the $40 or so dollars the book will probably cost and help Michel with his retirement.  I just hope everyone will be so quick to part with their money when my book comes out.  Now that will be a page turner, and I won't be deterred by any rules against printing classified secrets, no sir!  The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!  They'll never silence the people's right to know!  You want to know where Pierre Trudeau and Elvis meet every Wednesday for lunch?  Buy my book!  The moon landings?  Why, Gatineau Park of course!  Why were the regular battalions of the Black Watch disbanded?  Buy my book!  And no more than 98% regurgitated material.  I promise!

Cheers,
Dan.


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## PanaEng (3 Oct 2009)

Regardless of whether Mike is a 'media whore' or the fact that there is nothing new in the pages of the book, we can all agree that the Canadian public, corporations and government (including the RCMP and others that should know better) have a very short memory when it comes to national security and generally display a very cavalier attitude toward protecting sensitive information.
I think the book is very timely and deserves all the media attention it can get in order to bring these issues to the consciousness of the public and the politicians.
The government should take a leadership role in helping Canadian corporations protect their IP. Other govs go well beyond that - even a 'friend' has stolen Canadian IP in order to help their industry (France stealing from Nortel to help Alcatel in the late 90's).
Dan, I hope your book comes out at just the time people are starting to forget about Mikes book and make it as alarmist as possible - one exspy making sweeping claims can be dismissed easily but when another one comes along and reinforces the point... (but you'll have to come out and become a 'media whore' as well)

cheers,
Frank


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## leroi (3 Oct 2009)

Exspy, I look forward to reading your book. I'll even pay extra if I can get a signed copy. ;D

I'm about half way through _Nest of Spies,_ I think some of your points are well-taken. I didn't expect a re-telling of the Gouzenko defection story or a retelling of Sir William Stevenson's contributions to the clandestine and political worlds. At other times the author raises more contemporary stories that startled me (things I had not heard about before) and then glosses over them and they are quickly dismissed--I presume because the information is still classified--so the reader gets the infuriating sense that they are being teased.

All-in-all, I've enjoyed it, though. I try to separate the author from the work and in this case the author is unknown to me.

But I think PanaEng is right. This is a book that needed to be written and READ. I think CSIS is much-maligned and much misunderstood by Canadians. And I think many Canadians are unaware that we have internal threats.


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