The RCMP have charged one of their own with stealing special operational information and breach of trust.The national police force charged Cameron Ortis, 47, with three counts under the rarely-used Security of Information Act which governs how officials handle sensitive and top-secret information.“In broad strokes, the allegations are that he obtained, stored, processed sensitive information, we believe with the intent to communicate it to people that he shouldn’t be communicating it to,” prosecutor John MacFarlane said after a brief court hearing.“I won’t be commenting in any more detail other than that at this stage.”Ortis has worked as an “adviser” to the government of Canada since completing his Ph.D in political science at the University of British Columbia, according to an online profile.His position in the RCMP could not immediately be confirmed, but a 2008 academic conference schedule listed him as a “senior intelligence research specialist for national security criminal investigations” with the force. Citing unnamed sources, Global News reported Friday that Ortis was the director general of an intelligence unit at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.In that role, he would have access to sensitive information not just from the RCMP but other national security and intelligence agencies — and potentially allied intelligence, a senior source speaking to the Star said Friday.The RCMP refused to comment as Ortis’ case was before the courts.According to court documents, Ortis faces a total of seven charges under the Security of Information Act and the Criminal Code. The offences date from Jan. 1, 2015 to Thursday, when he was arrested in Ottawa.In Longueil after a campaign stop, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made a brief statement to reporters saying only that he was “of course made aware” of Ortis’ arrest. “I can assure you the authorities are taking this extremely serious ...
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