Hamilton activist slams spy watchdog's oil industry ties
Ken Stone says he fears his complaint about CSIS won't get a 'fair hearing'
An Hamilton, Ont.,activist is demanding that Canadas spy watchdog assign an adjudicator without ties to the oil and gas industry to review his complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS).
The resignation of former MP Chuck Strahlas chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) has prompted a Ken Stone to raise concerns about whether hewill get a fair hearing.
In October, SIRC thegovernment-appointed civilian body that overseesCSISsdealing with Canadians assignedStrahlto review a claim submitted by Ken Stone. Alongtime labour and environmental advocate, Stone filed a complaint toSIRClast year afterCSISagents made a visit to his home.
But on Friday,Strahlstepped down as the chair ofSIRCafter it was revealed that he works as a lobbyist forEnbridge, Inc.
Critics had charged it was inappropriate for the former Conservative cabinet minister to sit as aSIRCboard member while serving the Calgary-based energy giant, whose proposed Northern Gateway pipeline has raised the ire of environmentalists and First Nations groups.
Strahls resignation has led Stone who has demonstrated against proposed changes to Enbridges Ontario-to-Quebec Line 9 pipeline to demand that SIRC assign a board member who does not haveties to the oil and gas industry to his case.
At least two SIRC appointees have connections to energy companies:Denis Losier, a board member with Enbridges
New Brunswick subsidiary and Yves Fortier, a former director of TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.Even though the content of Stones claim has little to do with his environmental activism, he says aSIRCmembers connections to the energy industry would still compromise the integrity of hearings into his case.
I dont think that my complaint against CSIS will get a fair hearing at SIRC if the investigation is led by somebody who is tied to the fossil fuel industry, said Stone, a member of Hamilton 350, a climate change awareness group.
Since they are very closely tied to the fossil fuel industry, they may have an axe to grind against me since Im so involved to trying to stop [proposed changes toEnbridgesLine 9 pipeline].
In July, Stone submitted a complaint to SIRC in response to a visit two CSIS agents made to his home in January 2013. The encounter came two weeks after the Hamilton Spectator published an op-ed he wrote titled Harper is wrong in demonizing Iran.
During the Jan. 25, 2013 exchange, Stone said, CSIS agents probed him about his views on Iran and a triphe made to the Middle Eastern country in October 2011.The agents' visit was an attempt to to intimidate me and members of my family from lawfully exercising our Charter rights to freedom of expression, he wrotein his complaint to SIRC.
Committee bound by conflict of interest laws
SIRCassistantresearch director Lindsay Jackson said she couldn't comment on particular cases, but addedthe committee will consider requests like Stones.
Jackson said SIRC adjudicators are legally responsible to declare any conflicts of interest and are barred by federal law from making decisions on issues that could in some way enrich their own private interests or those of family and friends.
The committees chair, a position currently held by former Canadian Alliance MP Deb Grey, decides on which members of the five-person board will take on a complaint.
However, Jackson said its ultimately up to the member to decide whether to recuse his or herself from reviewing a case.
SIRC is a quasi-judicial body that reviews citizen complaints about CSISs dealing with Canadians. Committee members findings are reported to the government, but their recommendations are not binding.
With Strahls seat vacant, only two ofSIRCs four active members Grey and former OntarioNDP MPP Frances Lankin have no apparent direct ties to the oil and gas industry.
A vocal critic of the Conservative government, Stone is also wary of Grey a 2012 appointee with strong ties with theTories taking on his complaint.
I think its another indication that SIRC is a very poor excuse for civilian oversight of CSIS.
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