Three employees from federal departments and agencies were fired for being foreign agents. The federal government did not disclose their identities or for what governments they were spying.. Canada Border Services Agency badge .Cabinet in an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the Commons said one department of Employment staffer was fired as a spy in 2019..A lone Canada Border Services Agency (BSA) employee was similarly fired that same year..A third spy at the department of Fisheries was terminated in 2017..“A review for cause is typically initiated following receipt of new information from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service that may indicate a potential national security concern,” wrote the BSA..“If the risk is assessed as being unacceptable, the deputy head, as the sole authority over the decision, may revoke the ‘secret’ or ‘top secret’ clearance.”.The disclosures were made at the request of Conservative MP John Barlow (Foothills, AB) who asked, “How many individuals have had their security clearances revoked for cause since 2016?” and “How many were due to the individual spying or otherwise acting on behalf of a foreign government?”.The three spies were among 307 federal employees fired following the loss of security clearances, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..Staffers may be stripped of clearance for misconduct at work, association with suspected criminals, or convictions for offences unrelated to work. The suspensions totalled:.121 at the department of Public Works71 at the Canada Revenue Agency64 at the department of Employment11 at the department of Foreign Affairs10 at the Canada Border Services Agencynine at the department of Fisheriesseven at the department of National Defencefour at Shared Services Canada, the federal IT agencythree at the Public Health Agency of Canadatwo at the department of Immigrationone each at the Communications Security Establishment, department of Environment, department of Veterans Affairs, Canada School of Public Service, and Transportation Safety Board.Disclosure of the spy firings followed 2021 Commons committee testimony by a former national security advisor, Richard Fadden, that subterfuge by agents of China was commonplace..“They are after us, if I can use the vernacular, from a whole variety of perspectives,” Fadden testified at the Commons Special committee on Canada-China Relations..“They are after us in a negative sort of way.”.“The great difficulty we have in Canada is the general public has trouble understanding that we are threatened,” said Fadden..“We feel very comfortable here in North America.”.“We have three oceans. We have a border with the United States,” said Fadden..“Sometimes you have to face a crisis before you truly understand there is a problem.”
