http://rabble.ca/news/2015/02/political-activist-ken-stone-takes-csis-to-task-alleged-harassment
Political activist Ken Stone takes CSIS to task for alleged harassment
By Paul Weinberg | February 25, 2015
What is it like to be targeted by Canada's spy agency? Veteran anti-war
and environmental activist Ken Stone knows firsthand and is willing to
talk about it.
The retired school teacher is presently taking the legal route: making a
formal complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
(CSIS). This action follows the sudden appearance of two agents at his
Hamilton home two years ago.
"The visit was not warranted under the mandate of CSIS. It caused
anxiety for me and my family. It was an attempt to intimidate me, and my
family members in lawfully exercising our charter rights, of freedom of
speech and association, and my right to criticize the government of
Canada, and its policies," said Stone.
The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) will be holding an
in-camera hearing on March 26 and 27, where Lawyer Bijon Roy will
present Stone's complaint against CSIS and CSIS will offer its rebuttal.
Roy says Stone's unusual experience might be a sign of what's to come
after the Conservatives push through Bill C-51's controversial measures,
which will expand the scope of surveillance, targeting and disruption of
dissenting groups in Canada.
Roy has encountered other politically active people who have had similar
CSIS visits, both at home and at work. However, hardly anyone chooses to
challenge these unannounced CSIS visits, as has Ken Stone.
"I have heard from a number of people who have had these visits. They
have expressed to me their main concern is -- neither they nor their
families, acquaintances or community members become aware of that or are
affected by that. They are certainly afraid of personal consequences,"
said Roy.
A visit from CSIS reinforces the sense that a designated person is on
the radar of Canada's security agency. Roy said, from personal
experience, that it can even intimidate the most politically committed
person and force them to scale back their activity. He cited the example
of CSIS visits to pipeline protestors.
"People say 'you know what? I am not going to write a letter to the
editor, I am not going to go to that protest, I am not going to sign
that petition, because I didn't really think doing that was going to put
me on a list or attract scrutiny from an agency like CSIS,'" said Roy.
Stone, however, appears impervious to these fears, perhaps because he is
retired. He says he doesn't have to worry about a school board, a
principal or a parent making fuss about him in front of students in the
classroom.
"As to why the visit took place [at Ken Stone's home], the main reasons
I can think of would be an effort to intimidate, to gather information,
to potentially ascertain whether the person might be capable of being
recruited as a source down the road. Clearly, [CSIS] picked the wrong
person to contact and it has blown up in their faces," said security and
intelligence expert Steve Hewitt.
Stone is a high profile activist in Hamilton, marshalling protests
against military intervention in Muslim lands, fighting the local
transportation of tar sands oil via Enbridge's Line 9 and writing op-ed
pieces in the city's daily newspaper, the Spectator.
His activism goes back to the 1960s when he was, by chance, placed in a
Toronto holding cell with future Toronto mayor John Sewell, for
allegedly creating a disturbance during an anti-Vietnam war demo in
front of the U.S. consulate.
Later, Stone managed to obtain from the Library of Parliament a
scrupulously-documented 700-page file that the RCMP kept on him,
detailing minutes of political meetings he had attended and the
notorious Profunc list of so-called communists targeted for a planned
(but never carried out) police roundup and indefinite detention during
the Cold War.
The trouble with CSIS all started one day in January 2013 when Stone was
sitting with his computer on the front porch of his home and there was a
knock on the door.
At the door, he was confronted by two young women in black suits who
shoved a badge into his sight to show they were from CSIS. They asked if
he was "Ken Stone."
"[What they wore] was like a uniform except it didn't have insignia.
They looked like police officers," he says.
When Stone confirmed his identity, the agents inquired about Stone's
October 2011 trip to Iran and a subsequent opinion piece in the Spectator.
"We assume you have positive things to say about Iran and we want to
hear your views on Iran, and we want to know your relationship with the
government of Iran," said Stone, paraphrasing what the agents told him.
Suffice to say, Stone refused to converse with the CSIS agents any
further. Instead, he took their business card and said his good byes.
"They were not very happy; I could see by their faces," he recalled.
The timing was curious. Just months earlier, in early September 2012,
the Harper government had broken diplomatic relations with Iran.
In the months leading up to that event, there were genuine fears that
Israel might precipitate a war with Iran over its nuclear energy
development, which it claimed would lead to a nuclear bomb.
Stone had criticized Canada's fulsome and unconditional support of
Israel's "sabre rattling," in a January 11, 2012 article in the Spectator.
Stone denies having any special relationship with the Iranian
government. Back in 2011 he was in the capital city, Tehran, at the
invitation (after someone else in Canada had turned down the same
invite) by the country's parliament to attend an international
conference on Palestine. Stone is also a campaigner for Palestinian rights.
A member of Independent Jewish Voices, Stone said he was very upset by
the presence of a Holocaust denier at the conference and he confronted
that person.
"That person was the only negative influence among the 900 delegates. He
was the only one that I thought was objectionable," said Stone.
At the heart of Stone's complaint is the allegation that CSIS has
unfairly, and without evidence, tarred peaceful activists like himself
with the brush of terrorism. He wants the agency to withdraw any hint of
association in any file on him and to lay off all similar visits to
peaceful activists.
Stone's lawyer suggests the targeting of his client may be related to
Canadian foreign policy.
"[Ken] was outspoken on the issue at a time when the Canadian government
was rolling out a much more aggressive position about Iran," said Roy.
Also, Roy continued, the widening of the definition of 'terrorism' in
Bill C-51 is problematic.
"So, terrorism is no longer just a very violent type activity but it
encompasses the ideas that underline or motivate such and such," Roy said.
"What if someone says, 'I can see Hamas's point or I understand
Hezbollah does x, y, and z. [Both on Canada's list of proscribed
terrorist organizations] Has that crossed the threshold [for CSIS]?"
asks Roy.
With the support of his family and local MP, Stone began the complaint
process in April 2013 with a letter to CSIS that detailed what had
transpired at his door.
He was supposed to officially receive an answer in 30 days from CSIS,
but got a response in March 2014. CSIS defended the officers's actions,
maintaining they were acting professionally and within its legal mandate.
Stone then made his formal complaint with CSIS to SIRC in June 2013.
It is interesting to note that at the upcoming SIRC hearing in March,
there is an exparte meeting within the general meeting that Roy and
Stone cannot attend.
In the exparte session, the SIRC official will be hearing evidence
presented by CSIS that will explain how Stone came to its attention.
Roy agrees this makes mounting a defense of his client challenging, but
not impossible.
"There is still the opportunity to present details of [Ken's] side of
the story. I am confident that we will have every opportunity to present
that," said Roy.
"We fully expect that the Committee's findings will reflect all of the
evidence that is put before them, and that their recommendations will
address any concerns which we've raised, even if they are not spelled
out in detail," Roy added.
Meanwhile, Stone has spoken to almost ten other people who have been
approached by CSIS agents.
"I tell them, take the card, don't talk to them, be polite, send them
away, and call your MP," he said.
Stone estimates between 10,000 and 30,000 Canadians have experienced
these encounters, although his lawyer is a bit more cautious, declining
to offer a figure.
CSIS did not respond to questions on the issue of the home visits by
publication time.
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