It was disclosed that the Soviet representatives had offered an RCMP officer ‘unlimited' funds for information on Canadian intelligence tradecraft and had paid $30,000 over a period of nearly a year for bogus material deliberately supplied by the Canadians.
In the House of Commons, Jamieson said, “This case proved to be a classic example of an intelligence operation, involving complex signaling systems, coded passwords, secret concealment devices, all for the purpose of arranging clandestine meetings between the RCMP member and the Soviet agent. This incident and the action we have had to take today, place strains on our relations with the Soviet Union.
He detailed the activities of he Soviets: “Early in 1977, two Soviet intelligence officers approached a member of the RCMP and offered him an unlimited sum of money to spy for them. This member of the force had, on an earlier posting and in the normal course of his responsibilities, come into frequent contact with one of the Soviet officials in this case.
“To establish the ultimate purpose of the Soviet approach, the member of the force was authorized by the RCMP under carefully controlled circumstances, to meet with the principal agent Mr. Vartanyan, in accordance with the elaborate instructions he had received from the Soviet officials.
“Between 1977 and the present he met secretly, with the principal agent on seven occasions. The other Soviet nationals identified with this operation were involved in different support functions, including transportation, counter-surveillance and regular weekly observation activities.”
On different occasions, filmed instructions were passed on to the RCMP member in a hollowed-out stick in a specially prepared package of cigarettes. The RCMP member was instructed by the agent to obtain information on such subjects as the methods of the RCMP security service employed against Soviet intelligence services in Canada, character assessments of RCMP personnel and details regarding RCMP counterespionage cases.
“The RCMP member in return provided the Soviets with carefully screened non-sensitive information or completely fabricated material. The fact that he was paid $30,000 for information of no consequence provides an indication of the importance the Soviet intelligence service attached to the operation.”
It was a commonly held belief that the involvement of Canada in many differing security arrangements with the USA draws close attention in Soviet intelligence organizations. But the Soviet operation as exposed by Canadians was concerned strictly with the practices of the RCMP in their monitoring of Soviet representatives in Canada.
The Estonians among the 12 that were declared ‘persona non grata' were Voldemar Veber and Pyotr R. Lellenurm (Peeter Lillenurm).
(To be continued.)
Laas Leivat
