An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) “person of interest” profile cited by the RCMP says a former RCMP officer “is believed to have leaked the premier’s program a few months ago.” The document is dated January 30, 2022. The document said the person — whose name has been redacted — resigned from the RCMP in 2021 in response to the federal government’s vaccine mandate for Mounties. The order came into effect on October 6, 2021. The document — again citing the RCMP — said the individual was also a sniper and intelligence officer. The document did not say who received the leaked information. “[Redacted] has been very vocal on social media in his belief that vaccine mandates violate the Canadian Constitution,” the document says. The Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry is holding hearings in Ottawa to investigate the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act to end an anti-vaccination protest that engulfed downtown Ottawa for weeks last winter. The profile says the former RCMP officer is involved with the group “Mounties For Freedom,” made up of current and former Mounties opposing public health measures for COVID-19. Although the individual is not named, his redone photo comes from a YouTube interview with Daniel Bulford, a former RCMP officer whose professional background and post-RCMP activities align with the profile. In that interview, published on November 9, 2021, Bulford told former philosophy professor Julie Ponesse that he had become frustrated with protective policing — and that Trudeau’s politics contributed to his frustration. “I will admit that I think it made a difference who was in power. I think it did,” Bulford said in the video. “Not that I don’t care about his safety. I just knew my heart wasn’t in it anymore and I’d be lying to myself if I stayed in that role.” Bulford said he had been on leave since the order came into effect, but added that he was still technically employed by the RCMP. The person of interest profile says the RCMP officer who leaked the Prime Minister’s schedule was the “self-proclaimed ‘leader’ at the command post for Freedom Convoy 2022.” Bulford has not responded to a request for comment from CBC News. He told the Globe and Mail last week that he never disclosed sensitive information or commercial material that would be protected under the Information Security Act. The Prime Minister’s Protection Detail (PMPD), an RCMP unit, is tasked with protecting prime ministers and their families 24/7. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, back left, is surrounded by his security detail as he greets people in the crowd during a visit to BC Day celebrations in Penticton, BC, on August 6, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck) The RCMP has not responded to the CBC’s questions about why it suspects a former officer leaked the program, when the program was leaked and to whom. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in an email that the PMO “is not in a position to comment on security matters”. Trudeau has adopted a number of notable security measures during his premiership. He canceled a rally and donned a protective vest. Trudeau was also pelted with gravel while boarding a bus in London, Ont last year during the federal election campaign. Police charged Shane Marshall of St. Thomas, Ont. with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with that incident. Bulford is expected to give evidence at the Emergency Act inquiry on Friday.
The leak is alarming, security experts say
Wesley Wark, a senior fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation who specializes in security and intelligence, said the alleged leak is troubling. “The prime minister must have confidence in the RCMP’s protective policing division not only to protect him, but also to keep information about his movements secure,” Wark told CBC News. Leaks of such sensitive information could also affect Canada’s reputation for security among other countries, Wark said. “States are rightly concerned about the reputation they might have for protecting secrets, and that’s about intelligence secrets and secrets, for example, around their ability to protect VIPs,” he said. “For a country like Canada that prides itself on its international engagement and the various roles it plays in the international community, it wants to be able to welcome and of course protect heads of state, for example, or key ministers who may be visiting Ottawa or somewhere else in Canada, from any security threats.” Security intelligence expert Wesley Wark at the University of Ottawa’s Social Sciences Building on May 14, 2013. Wark said a leak of sensitive security information could affect Canada’s international reputation. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) Pierre-Yves Bourduas, a former deputy commissioner of the RCMP, said the profile does not indicate that more than one person may have been involved in the leak of sensitive information. He added that the profile only mentions a possible leak that allegedly happened months before the profile was written. “There doesn’t seem to be any recent information [has been] received from the prime minister’s security detail,” Burduas said. Bourduas said it’s also worth noting that the profile described the individual as “reportedly cooperative and forthcoming with peaceful intentions.” But Burduas said a leak of sensitive information would still be worrisome – and potentially harmful to officers charged with protecting the prime minister. “You would really have to dig deep and try to determine what the source of this particular leak is,” Bourduas said.
