Spy station renovation project cancelled, then reposted online

OTTAWA — The Department of National Defence has reinstated an online tender for renovations at its south Ottawa electronic spy station, including detailed schematics of the top-secret listening post.

The tender for renovations to the operations room at Canadian Forces Station Leitrim was taken down from the federal Buyandsell.gc.ca site Friday, a day after Postmedia News reported the documents included schematics revealing the number and arrangement of desks, computer screens, electrical and mechanical requirements and more.

A defence spokesman Monday said the drawings were removed and reviewed, “out of an abundance of caution.

“With regards to this specific project, a security checklist was created and used prior to project submission and public posting of this information in order to ensure all security requirements are met,” Daniel Le Bouthillier, assistant deputy minister for public affairs, said in a written statement Monday.

The documents are now back online and the project will continue as planned

DANIEL LE BOUTHILLIER

“Though no security violation occurred and the plans deemed releasable from the onset, (Public Works) removed the documents from Buyandsell.gc.ca as a precautionary measure. The documents are now back online and the project will continue as planned.”

The ops room is the heart of CFS Leitrim, which intercepts foreign electronic signals from satellites and other sources. The data is decrypted by the Communications Security Establishment Canada and turned into intelligence briefs for federal departments.

A former military intelligence officer said the diagrams contained information that foreign intelligence officers could use to determine the capabilities of the Leitrim listening post, part of ECHELON, the signals intelligence network connecting Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, the socalled Five Eyes alliance.

After the tender notice was removed from the site Friday, a new notice appeared Monday morning saying the project, “is cancelled until further notice,” which Le Bouthillier said was unintentional, but unfortunate, wording.

The full, reinstated tender, with drawings, reappeared Monday afternoon.