By Canadian Press

RCMP official accused of leaks was acting on secret info from foreign agency: lawyer

Nov 2, 2023 | 8:18 AM

OTTAWA — A lawyer for Cameron Jay Ortis, a former RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking classified material, says Ortis was acting largely on secret information communicated to him by a foreign agency.

Lawyer Mark Ertel told a jury in Ontario Superior Court today that Ortis will testify about what he did and why he did it.

But Ertel cautioned that Ortis is forbidden from revealing in court the nature of the information communicated to him or the name of the foreign agency. 

The Crown alleges that Ortis anonymously sent classified material in 2015 to people who were of investigative interest to the national police force. 

Ortis, 51, has pleaded not guilty to violating the Security of Information Act by allegedly revealing secrets to three individuals and trying to do so in a fourth instance.

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The Crown has tried to make the case that Ortis lacked authority to reveal secrets and that he was not doing so as part of some sort of undercover operation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.

The Canadian Press