Lawyers dispute extent of damage done by spy
HALIFAX — Lawyers arguing the case of a disgraced naval officer who sold military secrets to Russia gave conflicting accounts of the damage his treachery did to Canada’s foreign relations, with one referring to it as “theoretical harm” while the other claimed it endangered the lives of Canadian intelligence agents.
Mike Taylor, the lawyer for SubLt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle, pressed Crown witnesses repeatedly Thursday to reveal evidence of real damage done by the officer’s relationship with Russian agents who paid him about $72,000 over five years for a treasure trove of classified data.
Wesley Wark, an expert in security and intelligence and the defence’s only witness, said it would be difficult for the Canadian intelligence community to prove Delisle caused much real damage because police intercepted only two attempted transmissions during the years he was selling secrets.
He said he hadn’t seen any evidence of a Russian reaction or response to the material they had received.
“It is, in a way, theoretical harm,” testified Wark, a professor at University of Toronto. “To be honest, it is very difficult to assess the harm he has done.”
He dismissed the Crown’s assertion that Canada is at risk of being cut off from intelligence-sharing with its partners, saying that more serious breaches in other countries have not resulted in them being frozen out.
Crown attorney Lyne Decarie laid out her case in a tale of espionage that has captivated legal and security experts since he was arrested a year ago.
Decarie said Delisle received 23 payments totalling $71,817 from 2007 until 2011 after he walked into the Russian Embassy in Ottawa to offer his services for money.
She said Russian agents told him to provide a “manuscript” on the 10th of each month with information pertaining to Russia.
Decarie said Delisle came under suspicion after returning to the country in September 2011 from Brazil, where he met a Russian agent named Victor who told him that he would become a “pigeon,” or liaison for all Russian agents in Canada.
Alarms were raised within the Canada Border Services Agency because he had no tan, little awareness of the tourist sites in Rio de Janeiro, three prepaid credit cards, thousands of dollars in U.S. currency and a handwritten note with an email address, she said.
Two CSIS documents that Delisle tried to transmit to the Russians on Jan. 11, 2012, just before he was arrested, contained information that could potentially identify sources that work for CSIS, she said.
She said CSIS is continuing to assess the fallout from Delisle’s actions.
“It is an ongoing process,” she said.
Delisle pleaded guilty in October to one charge of breach of trust and two charges of passing information to a foreign entity that could harm Canada’s interests. He is the first person to be sentenced under Canada’s Security of Information Act, which was passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The breach of trust charge carries a maximum sentence of five years, while the other charges each carry a life sentence.
Delisle joined the navy as a reservist in 1996, became a member of the regular forces in 2001 and was promoted to an officer rank in 2008.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled to end Friday.