RCMP conducted five-month national security probe into leaked F-35 story,
Murray Brewster and Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press, May 16, 2012

“The Harper government called in the RCMP to investigate a politically embarrassing story …claiming it was a breach of national security,

“…The first RCMP member to review the allegation on July 8 was mystified as to what the issue might be.

“…The RCMP closed its file in November 2010, but was forced to ‘re-activate’ the case and ‘investigate further’

“…It took Mounties in charge of the case two-and-a-half months to get their hands on an actual copy of the [Government’s complaint] letter, which had been ‘kept at the commissioner’s office.’

“…Wesley Wark, an expert in security and intelligence at the University of Ottawa, said he was concerned by the revelations in the file. He described the probe as a misuse of not only the RCMP, but of the security legislation, one of the most serious laws on the book.

” ‘This has the whiff, well more than a whiff, of a politically inspired move,’ said Wark.

” ‘The complaint was coming from an odd place, an admittedly senior place within the government. The fact the clerk would ask the commissioner to do this is in of itself very unusual.’

“…’There are a number of things at work here that are troubling, quite apart from what appears to be the silliness of the exercise in the first place and the waste of resources,’ said Wark.

” ‘…The Security of Information Act doesn’t exist to be used for politically inspired chill.’

Connections with Britt’s examination of the F-Word:

• 4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism…
• 6. A controlled mass media…
• 7. Obsession with national security. Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. It was usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints…
• 12. Obsession with crime and punishment…

H/T RossK, The Gazetteer