Toews ducks NDP question on FBI letter to RCMP about navy spy Jeffrey Delisle

OTTAWA – Public Safety Minister Vic Toews won’t say why Canada’s spy agency stood back and let the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation brief the RCMP about navy spy Jeffrey Delisle.

Toews came under fire in question period about a Canadian Press report that said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had Delisle under surveillance for months in 2011 before the RCMP stepped in to build a criminal case.

In an unusual twist, the FBI sent the RCMP a detailed letter outlining Delisle’s activities because CSIS feared sharing its file could result in sensitive trade secrets spilling out in open court.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair pressed Toews on whether the FBI — not CSIS — informed the Mounties about Delisle.

Toews would only say that he doesn’t get involved in operational security matters and that the conclusions drawn in the report were totally incorrect. His office declined an interview request and did not immediately respond to followup questions.

Delisle, arrested in January 2012 by the RCMP, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to passing classified material to Russia in exchange for cash on a regular basis for more than four years.