The Commons ethics committee yesterday voted 6-5 to investigate whether the RCMP spied on parliamentarians. The probe follows an admission from police they used spyware to monitor smartphones..“Why?” asked Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, Que.), sponsor of the motion to conduct public hearings. “For what purpose? By whom and of whom?”.The RCMP in a June 22 Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the House Commons admitted it used spyware to “covertly and remotely obtain data from targeted computing devices.”.The Inquiry was tabled in response to a question by Conservative MP Tako Van Popta (Langley-Aldergrove, B.C.) who sought details “with regard to government programs conducting surveillance or gathering information from Canadians through their phones or other mobile devices.”.The Mounties said they used spyware capable of downloading all information logged on a smartphone including “email and other private communications,” “photographs, videos and audio files,” “audio recordings of private communications,” “photographic images,” “electronic documents,” “notes, calendars entries, spreadsheets, personal and financial records.”.“I am not someone who engages in witch hunts but I think privacy is fundamental,” said Villemure. “This motion is not partisan. What we want is to serve the public interest.”.Opposition MPs passed the motion to convene August hearings and compel the RCMP to release documents including a list of search warrants involving spyware and any information “related to the wiretapping of Members of Parliament, parliamentary assistants or any other employee of the Parliament of Canada.” Villemure did not say why he suspected the Mounties may have monitored legislators..“Spyware has the ability to turn on the microphones on our smartphones, turn on our cameras to spy on us and others, and we know the RCMP are saying they have used it in the traditional sense of the wiretap,” said Conservative MP James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake, Man.). “But this goes beyond any wiretapping technology that has existed.”.“The one thing that is concerning is whether or not it has been used against us as Members of Parliament to monitor us, to listen into our conversations, or whether or not knowing places we meet that are not public are now being shared among people with malicious intent,” said Bezan..“We don’t want the RCMP to use the guise of national security or public safety as a way to pull a veil over this information and hide it from parliamentarians,” said Bezan, adding: “We need to talk to the minister of public safety. Ultimately the RCMP report to him.”.Liberal MPs opposed the motion but acknowledged public worries with police use of spyware. “There are concerns,” said MP Brenda Shanahan (Chateauguay-Lacolle, Que.). “We have heard about them.”.“Canadians should know whether or not police services are complying with all legislation as it relates to privacy,” said Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre)..The RCMP in their June 22 Inquiry Of Ministry said “concerns have been raised by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in the past” over spyware, “however they were addressed and mitigations were implemented.”
