Targeted Individuals Canada: John Farrell

used security certificate "...Mr. Lindsay grilled Mr. Farrell throughout the day about illegal mail opening and possible law breaking by CSIS. Mr. Farrell confirmed statements he made in a recent book - Covert Entry - that Mr. Zundel's mail was intercepted for several years. However, Mr. Farrell distanced himself from some statements in the book that author Andrew Mitrovica attributed to him, including an opinion Mr. Farrell allegedly expressed that CSIS intentionally violated the law in its campaign against white supremacists. "I didn't write that. And I didn't say that," Mr. Farrell testified. However, Mr. Farrell conceded that in his view, CSIS's motto ought to be: "Lie, deny, and then act surprised." Asked why he felt that way, Mr. Farrell said: "Because that was typical of what was going on in the service." Mr. Lindsay hopes to expose CSIS as a rogue agency that will stop at nothing to attain its goals, which would taint the evidence it has assembled to justify deporting Mr. Zundel under a rarely used security certificate. Under the security-certificate procedures, the evidence was presented in strict secrecy to Judge Blais. The defence must guess at what CSIS is alleging in its attempt to portray Mr. Zundel as dangerous to national security. After 18 months of legal jousting, the hearing has increasingly taken on a surreal quality, its participants noticeably punchy. Yesterday, Mr. Farrell issued a sharp warning to Mr. Lindsay at one point not to be high-handed with him. Shortly afterward, Mr. Lindsay rebuked Judge Blais for ignoring Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence. Meanwhile, Judge Blais, a one-time solicitor-general of Canada with responsibility for CSIS, took turns upbraiding just about everyone. Early in the day, he demanded that Mr. Farrell's lawyer, John Norris, move to a distant seat where he would be less inclined to make legal objections. He also chastised CSIS lawyer Murray Rodych for making baseless objections..." (CSIS Intercepted Zundel's Mail Say Ex-Agent)

serious security breach "...Farrell became increasingly irritated by the rampant featherbedding he discovered. Besides, the breathtaking stupidity of one API who had cards printed to advertise his work, a female agent telling Internet chat partners that she was part of Canada's secret service and a waitress bragging to Farrell at a downtown singles bar that she had just been granted clearance by the CSIS, Farrell became disgusted with the perks of the inner-elite, who smuggled rum to weddings, and with the phenomenon of the children of top CSIS brass getting free apartments when they were in Toronto (Farrell paid rent for a year, $12,720, not including cable and other expenditures for the daughter of head of the Security Operational Services in Ottawa), free use of staff cars on private time and free tutoring (including access to the final exam) of another daughter of top brass. In November, 1999, Mitrovica revealed in the Globe and Mail that a trio of drug addicts had stolen a top secret CSIS document from an officer's van. This sensitive material outlined CSIS' plans for the coining year. A spokesman described it as the most serious security breach in CSIS history. Mitrovica learned of the theft before Perle Gauthier, the head of SIRC. This was the culmination of a string of embarrassing revelations. Ron Atkey, the former head of the CSIS called on the Director, Ward Elcock, to resign. The response was more stonewalling and silence by the CSIS and the government. Elcock, the ultimate Ottawa insider, shielded by the toothless civilian watchdog, today, blithely carries on, contemptuous of his critics and of Canadians' right to know. As I write this, Mitrovica's revelations are sparking a deep anger. According to the author, CUPW, incensed over union spying, is threatening to take Federal Transport Minister David Collenette to court, yet, amazingly, he refuses to meet them because he "never meets with unions." What kind of dumb thinking is this? The union is considering filing either a criminal complaint or a civil lawsuit..." (Covert entry: the inside story of the CSIS and the 'unholy ghost')

new and mounting evidence "...The investigation by the Privacy Commissioner's office comes as Justice Minister Anne McLellan insisted, in court documents, that Mr. Farrell was not an "employee" of the spy agency. Ms. McLellan's assertion flies in the face of new and mounting evidence that shows that Mr. Farrell enjoyed an intimate working relationship with CSIS from 1991 to 1999. For example, in a letter to Mr. Farrell dated March 30, 1999, CSIS director Ward Elcock said: "I recognize that you have assisted the Service in other ways from time to time and this has been very much appreciated. On those occasions you were compensated directly by CSIS, commensurate with the nature of the assistance provided." Mr. Farrell said he was always paid in cash by a senior CSIS manager so the agency could deny that he was involved in the dirty tricks unit. He has been embroiled in a lengthy dispute with CSIS involving $50,000 in overtime pay that he alleges CSIS still owes him. Earlier this month, Mr. Farrell asked Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips to investigate why documents concerning his relationship with CSIS had apparently gone missing...In the statement of defence, Ms. McLellan acknowledged that a "representative of CSIS" met with Mr. Farrell on March 16, 1999, and "offered to provide financial assistance in the amount of $6,000 to [Mr. Farrell]." She added that he refused the offer. Mr. Farrell said he refused because CSIS agents asked him to sign a release, waiving his right to file a lawsuit, as a condition of the payment. Ms. McLellan also confirmed in the statement of defence that on March 30, 1999, Mr. Elcock wrote Mr. Farrell, to once again offer him $6,000, this time for undisclosed "humanitarian" reasons. Despite repeated requests, CSIS public affairs officers have refused to explain why Mr. Elcock penned what intelligence sources have described as an extraordinary letter..." (Illegal CSIS Violates Human Rights Of Canadians Again)

The "Dirty Tricks" Agent - In 2000, John Farrell alleged that he was a civilian being run by CSIS to engage in questionable covert operations - including intercepting mail, breaking into cars and setting up false fronts. "The real reason for his termination was his whistle-blowing with respect to illegal acts being committed by a member of CSIS," he alleged in a lawsuit (National Security Whistleblowers). John Farrell worked as a Postal Inspector for CPC from 1989 to 1991 and for CSIS (as an Auxiliary Postal Inspector) from 1991 to 1998. While a CPC Security Officer, Farrell's job largely focused on spying on the Union. As CUPW engaged in the difficult negotiations leading to the strike of 1991, Farrell and his fellow S and I (now called Corporate Security) officers in the York Region prepared dossiers on "troublesome" CUPW leaders, including the President of the Toronto Local at the time. Farrell himself opened up 15 to 20 files on key union activists (Spying on postal workers).

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Sunday, June 3, 2012

John Farrell