By Canadian Press

Ortis arrest ‘unsettling,’ amid RCMP damage assessment, says top Mountie

Sep 16, 2019 | 9:06 AM

OTTAWA — RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki says the Mounties are assessing and trying to mitigate the possible damage that may have been caused in light of the arrest of one of its senior intelligence officials.

Lucki’s says in a statement that the national police force has been shaken by last week’s arrest of 47-year-old Cameron Jay Ortis, who is charged under three sections of the Security of Information Act.

Ortis also faces two charges under the Criminal Code, including breach of trust, for allegedly trying to disclose classified information to a foreign entity or terrorist group.

Lucki calls the allegations unsettling, if true, and confirms that Ortis was the director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, after starting his career with the Mounties in 2007.

She says Ortis had access to domestic and international intelligence, including information coming from Canada’s allies.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had little to say about the arrest today at a campaign stop in Waterloo, Ont., but says the government is engaged at high levels on the matter, including with its allies.

The Canadian Press