DID CANADA SPY ON FRANCE DURING ITS 2012 ELECTION?

Alleged CIA plan sought to monitor French politicians

Thomas Mulcair is demanding the federal government explain what role Canada played in alleged spying on France’s 2012 presidential election.

“The very possibility that Canadian spy agencies have been involved in monitoring French politicians is so serious that it absolutely cries out for a clear and unambiguous answer from our government. They have to come clean about it,” the NDP leader said Friday.

On Thursday, WikiLeaks released three CIA tasking orders detailing their plan to closely monitor 2012 French presidential candidates, including current President François Hollande and current first-round front-runner Marine Le Pen.

Canada is listed along with New Zealand, Great Britain, the United States and Australia in a section indicating which countries are assisting with the “HUMINT” or human intelligence aspects of the operation. Those countries make up the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance.

Multiple government departments declined to answer questions regarding what role Canada played in the CIA operation.

Department of National Defence senior communications adviser Ashley Lemire told the National Post: “The Government of Canada does not comment on leaked documents.” The Communications Security Establishment of Canada and Public Safety Canada sent similar statements by email.

The documents detail information the CIA wanted, including private strategies of the candidates, as well as information on potential schisms and alliances between key players within the parties.

In 2013, documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that Canada had spied on Brazil’s government in an attempt to get information related to mining and energy — two areas in which Canadian and Brazilian companies often compete. The incident caused diplomatic strife between Canada and Brazil, with Mulcair saying at the time it gave Canada “a black eye in the world.”

Mulcair pointed to the 2013 Brazil example on Friday, highlighting that since that alleged spying based on leaked documents turned out to be true, these leaked documents should also be taken seriously.

“Canadians don’t expect their government to spy on our closest allies, especially when it involves their own domestic elections. There’s nothing more sensitive than that, as we’re observing right now with the allegations in the U.S. election,” said Mulcair.

The documents contain only a single reference to Canada, making it unclear what parts of the CIA efforts Canada may have been involved in.

CSIS did not reply to multiple requests for comment.