Ottawa denies G20 spying allegations
Posted November 29, 2013 5:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canada’s federal government is not answering questions about allegations it allowed the National Spy Agency (NSA) to spy on delegates at the 2010 G20 conference in Toronto.
During question period on Thursday, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said he can’t comment on matters of national security.
“CSEC [Communications Security Establishment Canada] must abide by Canadian law,” Nicholson said. “They are prohibited from targetting Canadians and they cannot ask international partners to act in a way that circumvents Canadian law,” he said.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said that because the alleged spying took place in the U.S. embassy, it isn’t subject to Canadian law. However, Dewar said Canada needs better oversight for spy agencies.
“When it comes to CSEC, we are talking about people who have been given extraordinary privileges and powers to survey our citizens, and we want to make sure its within the law.”
According to the CBC, the NSA used the American embassy in Ottawa to team up with Canada’s CSEC to tap into phone calls and hack computers.
It is not clear who the targets were.
