13 federal departments had contracts with Stratfor: documents
OTTAWA — At least 13 Canadian government agencies have had subscriptions with U.S. private intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting Inc., or Stratfor, sometimes dubbed a shadow CIA, newly released WikiLeaks emails indicate.
Stratfor came under fire recently after a leaked company document prepared for an oil company outlined ways to counter activist groups, like Greenpeace, who oppose Canada’s oilsands development.
The same cache of leaked emails indicates Canadian federal agencies have purchased at least half a million dollars in Stratfor services.
Emails from January 2009 and February 2011 show invoices of $13,125 and $13,725 for one-year Stratfor subscriptions for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which were not publicly disclosed by the department.
Under proactive disclosure policy, Canadian government contracts worth more than $10,000 must be posted online.
A Foreign Affairs spokesman says there was a clerical error in not reporting the contracts.
Jean-Bruno Villeneuve added that the subscriptions were “used widely within the department to help inform policy development and analysis.”
Stratfor declined to answer questions about the leaks, referring the Canadian Press to a posted statement about its policy not to comment on any WikiLeaks documents.
A Canadian intelligence expert says some federal departments use private firms such as Stratfor to augment their supply of intelligence.
“I think it’s not uncommon,” Wesley Wark said. “Particularly for people in the intelligence analysis world of the Canadian government to have contracts from time to time with private-sector firms for delivery of certain kinds of analytical problems, which is basically what Stratfor does.”
In another leaked email, dated March 3, 2011, a senior executive in the firm applauds a Stratfor employee for cementing a long-term contract with National Defence.
The deal was on behalf of the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, worth $240,600 over three years.
The leaks suggest National Defence had the highest-value agreements with Stratfor.
According to the same email chain, National Defence paid Stratfor $78,225 in 2011, $80,175 in 2012 and $82,200 for this year. The contract was publicly disclosed by the department.
The deal gave the college “Authenticated Access to STRATFOR Enterprise Premium Portal,” which includes “Up to 10 individual user accounts” with access to sophisticated analysis and geopolitical forecasts.
National Defence’s publicly posted contract reports also show an agreement with Stratfor worth $182,377 from 2008 to 2011.
Additional emails from the WikiLeaks database show the Public Safety Department, whose umbrella includes CSIS, had a deal with Stratfor in 2010 and 2011, although the valuation was not given.
WikiLeaks obtained the emails from a hacking of over five million Stratfor emails by alleged Internet activist and Anonymous member Jeremy Hammond. Hammond pleaded guilty in a U.S. court and received a 10-year sentence last month.