Cameron Jay Ortis, a former high-ranking official in the RCMP intelligence, has been found guilty of sharing secret information without permission and misusing his role of influence in breach of Canadian secrets laws.
The jury decided ton convict Ortis after a long trial where the accused pleaded not guilty to charges which included three counts of violating the Security of Information Act. He was also charged with breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer.
Ortis, who is 51, said he did it as part of a an attempt to get targets to use a system set up by another allied intelligence agency but according to Crown lawyers he did not have the authority or position to act in an undercover fashion.
The situation has raised concerns about the integrity of Canada’s national intelligence system.
Ortis was the director-general at the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre (NICC), a key position with high levels of security clearance.
According to a 2020 report Ortis aroused suspicion since 2017 and was cited in a past $1.9 million lawsuit by three RCMP intelligence officers.
They claimed Ortis misappropriated and sold their work and tried to ruin their careers.
They also said higher-ups in the RCMP didn’t pay attention to their warnings and didn’t protect them from Ortis’ bad behavior.
“Very early on in his tenure, Mr. Ortis began to engage in a pattern of degrading and abusive behaviour towards NICC employees,” the lawsuit reads.
“Some of the original NICC employees began to exchange theories about Mr. Ortis’s strange and controlling behaviour, including predictions that Mr. Ortis was attempting to construct a unit that would unquestioningly follow his directions, which he could then use for personal gain or advancement,” it continued.
“This failure to act on management’s part continued into 2018 and 2019, as NICC employees continued to attempt to raise concerns and as Mr. Ortis’s behaviour worsened.”
