U.S. spied on world leaders at G20 summit in Toronto with Canada’s help, report says
Posted November 28, 2013 5:51 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – The United States reportedly conducted widespread surveillance while world leaders were gathered in Toronto for the G20 summit in 2010 and Canada knew about it.
CBC’s The National reported Wednesday on documents it said were leaked by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The national broadcaster said the briefing notes show Canada allowed the National Security Agency to conduct the operation out of its Ottawa embassy during the the six-day summit in 2010, both during the G8 in Huntsville and the G20 in Toronto.
The CBC reports that the NSA operation was closely co-ordinated with its Canadian counterpart, Communications Security Establishment Canada., CSEC.
The documents don’t mention the precise targets of the operation, but the NSA and CSEC do gather foreign intelligence for their respective governments by covertly intercepting phone calls and hacking into computer systems around the world. The documents describe part of the mandate as “providing support to policymakers.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that the government does not “comment on operational matters related to national security.”
“Our security organizations have independent oversight mechanisms to ensure that they fulfill their mandate in accordance with the law,” Jason MacDonald said in an email to The Canadian Press.
A law professor at the University of Ottawa told CBC that by law, CSEC or its international partners cannot target anyone in Canada without a warrant.
Past documents leaked by Snowden revealed Canada had hacked into phones and computers in Brazil’s department of mines.
