generalspeaking

Fluent in Mandarin, a cybersecurity expert, Cameron Ortis joined the RCMP in 2007. He had an immense network of international connections. In his position he monitored the dark web used by organized criminals and terrorists. Eventually he was promoted to director general of the cyber-security division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

In a shock to the Canadian public came news of the spymaster charged in 2019 -- his arrest on charges of violating the Security of Information Act. Details have never been released to the public. But he was released on bail three years later, in December of 2022, to be set on trial in October, 2023. From what could be gleaned of the little news that was published it seems his treasonous acts were linked to China.

Canada's international allies had good reason for alarm with the tainting of Canada's reputation given the fact that the man had complete access to secret intelligence from the Five Eyes military intelligence alliance. An alliance which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and of course, Canada. Canada's reputation as a reliable security partner has taken a bashing.

Now, the reasoning behind the government refusing to make it known publicly what the details behind the case happen to be on such a vital matter, along with the fact that the man has been released on bail, caused further shock ripples. In an interview where a military source spoke on condition of anonymity, it was divulged that Ortis is "watched closely" by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service along with America's Central Intelligence Agency, while awaiting trial in Canada. 

In October, another espionage case surfaced when Norway arrested a suspected Russian spy who studied under an assumed identity in Canada. The Guardian reported that the suspect was resident in Canada for years while "studying at Canadian universities with a focus on Arctic security issues ... and in 2019 published an article in the Naval Review journal on the need for Canada to establish a permanent naval base in its Arctic territory, arguing Nordic nations -- and Russia -- had already done so."