RCMP intelligence sharing probed at Arar inquiry * Who is A-O Canada?

[Spazito]

OTTAWA — The RCMP sometimes skirted established procedure for sharing information with U.S. anti-terrorism agencies in the wake of the 9-11 attacks in New York and Washington, the Maher Arar inquiry has heard.

Sgt. Rick Flewelling also testified Monday that there was tension between RCMP headquarters and members of Project A-O Canada, a major anti-terrorist investigative team in the Ottawa area.

snip

Previous evidence has indicated that A-O Canada dumped its entire database to U.S. officials in April 2002, without any formal caveats on how the information could be used in future by the Americans.

snip

Flewelling said that sometimes led to tension with A-O Canada investigators, who interpreted his interventions as intrusions on their turf.

more

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1124760253925_469450/?hub=Canada


What the hell is this A-O Canada? This is the first time I have seen this 'group. Has anyone here heard of them before?

It is interesting, beyond interesting, imo, that there is no mention of this group being part of CSIS so who are they?

[Maple]

1. All I can find

'In 2002, Cabana, who then held the rank of inspector, headed an anti-terrorist team in Ottawa known as Project A-O Canada, which brought Mounties and officials from other departments together to co-ordinate investigations'

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/06/30/1112174-cp.html

[Spazito]

2. Thanks, Maple, for the link, it brings up an interesting question

Who oversees this group, it seems it is not the RCMP given this group acted outside the RCMP in giving the info to the US without caution. If it is under the auspices of CSIS one would think that connection would be mentioned yet CSIS is nowhere to be found in the two articles we have found plus here is a third that refers to A-O Canada, from the Toronto Star:

"He was the fourth Mountie tasked with reigning in the A O Canada investigation since its creation nine months earlier.

"Because of 9/11 and the redistribution of resources, there were a number of new people that were brought into the national security environment that perhaps weren't fully aware as to what some of the roles and policies were," he testified.

A month before he was appointed, in what's being referred to at the inquiry as "the data dump," members of the A O Canada team passed documents, databases and computer hard drives seized in searches in Canada and not yet analyzed, directly to U.S. authorities, breaching RCMP protocols.

Flewelling also testified investigators tried to circumvent his authority, noting one instance when A O Canada investigators held a meeting on the case without notifying him."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1124747413842&call_page=TS_Canada&call_pageid=968332188774&call_pagepath=News/Canada&pubid=968163964505&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

[Maple]

3. It makes sense

that a special investigation would be set up, involving both CSIS and the RCMP so that everyone would be on the same page and all assets would be available for use by everyone...but this doesn't read that way does it?

I've always suspected a rogue group...gung-ho types looking for excitement, and all wound up about 'terrorism' and derring-do...impatient with rules and other such niceties and willing to do an end run around them in the 'fight against evil'

Maybe that's what this is.

If so, I hope they nail their asses to the wall!

[Spazito]

4. Totally agree!

"If so, I hope they nail their asses to the wall!"

This group needs to be disbanded immediately, imo. They are acting outside of any governance, friggin scary, imo.

[CHIMO]

5. Good Question

Hunting al-Qaeda: Inside the RCMP's search for a terror cell
Tuesday, August 02, 2005:

TORONTO - In the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, Canadian police and intelligence officials fanned out across Ontario and Quebec in search of an alleged homegrown al-Qaeda "sleeper" cell.

The Ottawa-based RCMP investigation -- Project A-O Canada -- would eventually take officers to a small, nondescript apartment complex just a 10-minute drive from Toronto's soaring downtown office towers.

It was here, the Citizen has learned, that the Mounties, secret search warrant in hand, descended in January 2002.

It was one of seven warrants executed that day. At the same time in Ottawa, officers were busy rifling through the residence of Abdullah Almalki, a Canadian citizen who spent two years locked up in a Syrian prison and claims to have been tortured.

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:DVfd5zJOnDoJ:haganah.org.il/harchives/004648.html+%22Ottawa-based+RCMP+investigation%22&hl=en&start=1


Internal report slams Mounties in Arar case
CTV.ca News Staff

Both U.S. and Canadian investigators -- the latter as part of an RCMP-led task force known as Project A-O Canada -- viewed Arar as a "person of interest" from at least late 2001 onward. They were interested in Arar's apparent links to suspected al Qaeda members or associates, including Abdullah Almalki, who was also imprisoned in Syria.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1096126311517_23/?hub=Canada


Testimony of Garry James Loeppky, Deputy Commissioner, RCMP, on July 6 (continued from June 30), when questioned by commission counsel.

Project O Canada

Loeppky explained that Project O Canada was a multi-jurisdictional/disciplinary/functional team established shortly after 9/11 to deal with criminal activity related to national security. Loeppky said it is an ongoing investigation, and wasn’t certain he could say where it operates. He confirmed that Project O Canada was created before the INSETs. He also explained that a project called “A” O Canada refers to an investigation in the A Division jurisdiction (Ottawa), while a “C” O Canada refers to Montreal.
http://www.maherarar.ca/the%20inquiry%20today%20more.php?id=111_0_19_0_M

Looks like kinda of, sort of RCMP chain. Looks like a good case for a Royal Commission.

[Spazito]

6. I agree, it definitely looks like this 'project' has gone rogue, imo

From reading the Toronto Star, especially these gems:


He was the fourth Mountie tasked with reigning in the A O Canada investigation since its creation nine months earlier.

"Because of 9/11 and the redistribution of resources, there were a number of new people that were brought into the national security environment that perhaps weren't fully aware as to what some of the roles and policies were," he testified.

and

Flewelling also testified investigators tried to circumvent his authority, noting one instance when A O Canada investigators held a meeting on the case without notifying him.

In another instance, he said he ended up staying at home because the required approval to travel to Washington for a meeting involving Canadian investigators came only "after the plane took off."

So, the guy tasked with 'reigning in the A O Canada is deliberately being left out of the mix it seems.