by Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau Source: The Toronto Star URL: [link] Date: June 6, 2009 OTTAWA – The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has ordered an "exhaustive review" of all five of its security certificate cases after a Federal Court judge slammed the spy agency for withholding lie detector results that cast doubt on a source key to the effort to deport Mohamed Harkat. In a scramble to restore its credibility in the face of a tougher line coming from the Federal Court, CSIS advised in a letter the mistake in Harkat's case was "inexcusable." The agency says it is taking several steps to allay any doubts about the "integrity" of its evidence or employees. "The service is resolute in its determination to restore judicial confidence in (the agency's) integrity and credibility," lawyer Michael Duffy, senior general counsel for CSIS, wrote in a letter addressed to Chief Justice Allan Lutfy of the Federal Court. CSIS says "the incident ... is a matter of profound concern to the service," especially given its obligation to present the court with a "frank view of the human source." The federal government alleges Harkat and four other Muslim men are threats to national security, and is using extraordinary immigration warrants that permit secret evidence to be used against them in deportation proceedings. In the case of Harkat, an Ottawa pizza delivery man who was arrested in 2002, CSIS now admits it should have disclosed negative polygraph test results from 2002 and 2008 about a male source whose "loyalty to the service" was considered suspect. It acknowledged the omission in the Harkat case raises questions about whether the same has happened in the cases of the other four men subject to similar secret proceedings – Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohamed Mahjoub, Hassan Almrei, or Adil Charkaoui.
The CSIS admission came just as the government was to have begun its final hearings against Harkat, who is accused of being a sleeper Al Qaeda agent. Those hearings have now been postponed indefinitely.

In his letter, Duffy said CSIS is:

Assigning a senior manager to find what went wrong in the Harkat case and to report to the court.

Reviewing the files on all human sources related to the five security certificate cases to see if any other omissions were made.

Creating more legal review layers as "checks and balances" within CSIS to make sure all relevant information on a file is disclosed.

Taking the unusual step of approaching foreign intelligence agencies to seek consent to release more information to the court-appointed special advocates responsible for challenging the government's secret case against Harkat in particular. But that evidence would not be shared with Harkat.

Duffy's letter and another letter discussing the polygraph evidence were released yesterday by Justice Simon Noel, the Federal Court judge overseeing the Harkat case.

It was Noel who revealed last week that CSIS had admitted it had not been forthright with his court. This week, he suggested the two watchdogs of CSIS should review whether the original judge on the case, Justice Eleanor Dawson, was similarly left in the dark.

Noel said yesterday he will recall at least three CSIS witnesses to explain the agency's actions.

Because evidence is heard in courtrooms closed to the men or their lawyers, Noel had repeatedly advised CSIS of the need to act in the "utmost good faith" – an obligation CSIS said it takes seriously.

"The failure to include relevant information ... was inexcusable and is a matter of profound concern to the service," Duffy's letter said.

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