Ontario’s counterterrorism plan directs local and provincial police to share relevant information gleaned from street checks — or “carding” encounters — with Canada’s intelligence agency and the RCMP, according to the written plan reviewed by the Star. Municipal police services “should ensure” that intelligence they gather “is shared regularly with key partners,” including the Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police’s anti-terrorism section, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the RCMP, according to the 2014 document — the most recent version of the plan — that was posted online by two small Ontario police services, then apparently removed.“Front-line officers across Ontario have the unique opportunity to recognize, identify, collect and report on intelligence gathered through primary response duties, such as street checks, vehicle stops and criminal investigations,” the document states.The 55-page Provincial Counter-Terrorism Plan — along with a “high”- priority memo from the assistant deputy minister in charge of the public safety division of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services — was sent to all Ontario police chiefs, the OPP commissioner and police services boards on Oct. 22, 2014, following the attack on Parliament Hill earlier that day. The two-page memo was a reminder of the role and responsibilities of local police in responding to domestic acts of terrorism, but the plan itself sets out pre-emptive responsibilities as well, including the sharing of information.In a post-Sept. 11 world and in the age of electronic surveillance by law enforcement and spy agencies, it should come as no shock that street-level intelligence gathered by local police is shared with higher authorities. But the explicit mention of street checks in the counterterrorism plan raises ...
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