Liddar Probe Is An Example Of How CSIS 'destroys Lives'

The former CSIS member, who did not want to be named, told The Hill Times last week that the spy agency has had to pay "more than a few individuals as a result of the spy agency's suspicions being reported as hard facts," and said the spy agency will "fight any attempts to get the actual information they used to claim he is a security threat because the service does not want it to be known that they never had anything substantive about Mr. Liddar, only fears and suspicions." However, the CSIS member also said the spy agency is discouraged from releasing such information because CSIS doesn't like to publicize its mistakes, and due to the fact that releasing any information would mean allied services would not want to cooperate or provide intelligence if Canada's spy agency can't guarantee that the information won't be passed on, even to the government, or made public. "It's a fixture in the intelligence world. The third-party rule. That I cannot blame the service for although I think it's maybe self-serving. It's just the way it works," said the former CSIS member. However, the former CSIS member said he recalls when the spy agency began watching Mr. Liddar, remembers that the evidence was "flimsy," and said even if the Cabinet minister responsible for CSIS told the spy agency to drop an investigation, it wouldn't. "I left the government because I became disgusted by the way peoples' rights, privacy and lives were trampled on by the Service. I was black-balled by the service because I didn't toe the line. I lost my family and my career," said the former CSIS member. The Department of Foreign Affairs cancelled Mr. Liddar's appointment as Canada's consul general to Chandigarh, India, in March 2004 after he failed to get a security clearance. Mr. Liddar filed an appeal with the Security Intelligence Review Committee, requesting a review of CSIS' findings. Before Mr. Liddar filed his appeal with SIRC, Mr. Liddar said the Privy Council Office offered him $60,000 in return for a resignation from his position and a promise not to discuss this issue in future which he rejected. http://www.hilltimes.com/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2005/september/19/liddar/&c=1 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 27, 2005]

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