In the ten days immediately following the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) initiated Project Shock which sought to quickly collect and act on any information or rumors related to possible threats posed by Muslims in Canada.[1]
The authorities noted that "many of the tangible and intangible barriers were taken down", allowing the RCMP previously disallowed access to government files, permission to give such information to foreign governments and send copies of hard drives seized in raids to Americans.[2][3][4] It was ostensibly the first time the RCMP had been allowed to mix intelligence gathering and law enforcement since the 1981 Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP, which had revealed a number of scandals surrounding the RCMP Security Service, and led to the dissolution of the unit.[2]
Six years later the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, noted that similar tips proved "little more than public hysteria during a time of crisis",[5] and in 2009 explained the database as "information that they thought might have been of strategic importance", but that it had been closed down.[6]
- ^ Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Intelligence Sharing between the United States and Canada", January 29, 2007 Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b RCMP, High levels of collaboration continue one year post-9/11 Archived 2010-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, 2002
- ^ Shephard, Michelle. Toronto Star, "All intelligence shared with U.S. Safeguards fell,Arar inquiry told"
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
APPwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Backgrounder: Examination of RCMP Exempt Data Banks, February 13, 2008
- ^ Hansard, 40th Parliament, 2nd Session, "Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics", February 23, 2009