HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Police said Monday they have charged a Canadian navy intelligence officer with espionage.

Jeffrey Paul Delisle, 40 years old, appeared in Halifax provincial court on Monday on two charges related to communicating information to a foreign entity.

Additional Photos

Sub.-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle is escorted from provincial court in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. Delisle is accused of sharing state secrets. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Andrew Vaughan)

Police didn’t reveal any details about what information is alleged to have been disclosed or to whom it was disclosed. But the Canadian television network CTV said it was Russia, without giving the source for that information.

Court documents assert that the spying began four and a half years ago and continued until last Friday, when intelligence and police officials raided Lieutenant Delisle’s house in suburban Halifax, according to the New York Times.

Canada’s Defense Department said Delisle is a sub-lieutenant in the navy and an intelligence officer. He reportedly worked at a naval communications and intelligence center in Halifax that was a multinational base with access to secret data from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said the investigation demonstrates that Canada isn’t immune to threats posed by foreign entities wishing to undermine Canadian sovereignty.

“Notwithstanding the seriousness of these charges, the RCMP is not aware of any threat to public safety at this time from this situation,” Mr. Paulson said.

All the offenses are alleged to have happened in or near Halifax, Ottawa and Kingston, Ontario.

The Security of Information Act was passed by Canada’s Parliament after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and replaced the Official Secrets Act. The RCMP say the charges against Delisle mark the first time that anyone has been charged under that section of the act.

At his court appearance on Monday, Delisle was ordered to remain in custody and is due back in court Tuesday. Lieutenant Delisle’s lawyer, Cameron MacKeen, would not say how his client intended to plead to one charge of breach of trust under Canada’s criminal laws and two charges under the Security of Information Act.

“(But) people have to realize that there’s a presumption of innocence in this country,” MacKeen said in his brief remarks to reporters, according to the New York Times.

Despite the government’s initial efforts to play down the seriousness of the arrest, Professor Wesley K. Wark, an intelligence specialist at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, said Lieutenant Delisle probably had access to a wide range of secrets given his job history.

“The rank doesn’t matter,” Wark said, according to the Times. “The security clearance matters.” He said the places where the lieutenant worked require high security clearances.

Commissioner Paulson said the investigation involved the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canadian Forces and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Related Stories