Update on ongoing investigation involving an RCMP employee

September 16, 2019
Ottawa, Ontario

Statement

The charges against a senior employee of the RCMP for alleged criminality under the Criminal Code and the Security of Information Act have shaken many people throughout the RCMP, particularly in Federal Policing. As you can appreciate, the charges have not been proven in court and there is a need to protect the ongoing investigation and allow due process to occur.

On Thursday, September 12th, 2019 the RCMP arrested Cameron Ortis, Director General of the RCMP's National Intelligence Coordination Centre. He has been employed by the RCMP since 2007 and has held positions in Operations Research and National Security Criminal Investigations. By virtue of the positions he held, Mr. Ortis had access to information the Canadian intelligence community possessed. He also had access to intelligence coming from our allies both domestically and internationally. This level of access is appropriate given the positions he held.

This is an ongoing investigation and we are assessing the impacts of the alleged activities as information becomes available. We are aware of the potential risk to agency operations of our partners in Canada and abroad and we thank them for their continued collaboration. We assure you that mitigation strategies are being put in place as required.

While these allegations, if proven true, are extremely unsettling, Canadians and our law enforcement partners can trust that our priority continues to be the integrity of the investigations and the safety and security of the public we serve.

Brenda Lucki
Commissioner

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