Federal cabinet secretly approved Cold War wiretaps on anyone deemed 'subversive,' historian finds

CBC News website ^ | Dec 15, 2016 5:00 AM ET | By Dave Seglins, Rachel Houlihan

[jerod]

'I was stunned': Historian documents RCMP wiretapping program OK'd in 1951 and still not acknowledged

A Canadian historian has found top secret documents from the dawn of the Cold War that show the federal government secretly approved an RCMP surveillance program to wiretap suspected spies, communist sympathizers and others deemed "disloyal" or "subversive."

Dennis Molinaro of Trent University says he was stunned to discover documents that show the cabinet of Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent passed a "secret order" in 1951 to authorize the RCMP surveillance, code-named Picnic.

But the actual cabinet edict, which formed the cornerstone of decades of future wiretapping, was never revealed to Parliament and never transferred to Canada's archives.

"Ultimately, we don't know how big it gets, how far it goes, how long people are wiretapped," Molinaro told CBC News. "There are indications that this wiretapping goes on until at least the second term of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's government."

[jerod]

I wonder what it’s like to live in a world where everything is ‘rose’ coloured? Or of you prefer ‘colored’.

The researcher referred to in this story was ‘stunned’ to find out that the Canadian government actually approved wiretapping ‘disloyal’ and ‘subversive’ individuals back in 1951, and that the wiretapping continued until at least the second term of the current PM’s daddy Pierre Trudeau… Seriously - This researcher has obviously lived a very sheltered life.

The RCMP routinely wiretapped pretty much anybody and everybody they wanted to and when that practice was exposed during Trudeau Daddy’s admin, Trudeau daddy solved the problem by creating CSIS (The Canadian Security Intelligence Service). Now CSIS routinely wiretaps pretty much anybody and everybody they want to. Problem solved.

Sheesh! Grow up Mr. Molinaro. You are being watched and we will find you if we need to.

[Sacajaweau]

All countries do this....stop acting surprised.

Ask Angela Merkel how this monitoring stuff works. She'll 'splain Obama's tap on her personal phone.

[knarf]

This was the era of McCarthyism.

Suspicion was EVERYWHERE !

And some present day discoverer is shocked ?

What was that about knowing/not knowing history ?

[MeganC]

Whoopee. Now the government spies on EVERYONE. What an improvement!