May 16, 2021
News Alert!!
The Consequences to Canadians of Ignoring Truth-Tellers and Project Sidewinder Some Thirty Years Ago - Election interference is the least of the problems.
The stories of individual Canadians who expose wrong-doing in organizations demonstrate clearly the pain and devastation that is inflicted on them for daring to do their jobs with integrity. As ordinary Canadians, we do not support these aberrant behaviours of some authorities in organizations we should be able to trust.
What is often not so clear though, are the consequences to the larger society as a result of the sometimes brutal and barbaric way our organizations treat our fellow Canadians for exposing problems. And they usually do not go public unless they have tried to get the problems rectified internally first. This page is dedicated to the truth-tellers who told their truths years ago, and the negative consequences to all of us for ignoring them which are finally coming to light.
This is one of those stories. The story began in the early 1990's when Brian McAdam, a senior immigration official at Foreign Affairs noticed irregular behaviours at the Canadian High Commission in Hong Kong where he was posted. It started with Brian suddenly seeing files of "undesirables" disappear from his computer. He was being hacked. This was witnessed by an RCMP Officer posted there at the time, as it was occurring. An RCMP investigation ensued. The findings involved bribery, forgery of visas, and profiteering which benefited members of Chinese Triads seeking to enter Canada and others. When Brian raised what he saw with superiors at Foreign Affairs he was ostracized, ignored, his career ended and his health harmed. Others also tried to raise the alarm but were also ignored by superiors in the bureaucracy, and at the political level up to and including relevant Ministers and the Prime Minister at the time.
Another key figure was Cpl. Robert Read, an experienced RCMP member who realized the seriousness of the evidence and conducted the investigation as did CSIS. Eventually the findings of the investigation went into a report called "Project Sidewinder". It was apparently ignored by RCMP superiors, Read was fired when he went public, was dismissed and denigrated by the Federal courts, and in May 2007, our Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The media were active and tried to help, however, not much happened to change the trajectory leading us to were we are today.
The following documents the evolution of events:
The first is an article in the Globe and Mail, published April 29, 2000.
"China set up crime web in Canada, report says"
The second is a document written by Brian McAdam, dated May 30, 2006. He had been invited by a then recently elected Parliamentarian, Pierre Poilievre, to make a submission to the House of Commons Legislative Committee considering the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) in 2006. This law was to appease public outrage following the Sponsorship Scandal. Unfortunately, Brian never got to submit his document as he was asked to provide a copy before the date of his appearance. Then at the 11th hour, he was notified his appearance had been cancelled. Perhaps if Parliamentarians had heard him, and acted accordingly, the problems we are dealing with today might have been mitigated or even avoided. Here is his aborted submission, copy of which was emailed to me in 2012 to assist in my own research. Sadly Brian died in December, 2022.
"Submission to House Legislative Committee. Bill C-11 as amended by Bill C-2: Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, May 30, 2006. By Brian McAdam."
The third is a CTV - W5 documentary by Tom Clark, April 11, 2011
"How crime bosses emigrate to Canada from Hong Kong"
The last gives us the current status from a book by journalist Sam Cooper, an excerpt from which was in the Sunday Guardian, May 16, 2021,
"Wilful Blindness: How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP agents infiltrated the West"
This all could have and should have been avoided, if our government organizations 30 years ago had listened to their committed, dedicated, honest Public Servants and responded appropriately as they tried to protect us by doing their jobs.
September 5, 2021
There are more developments in this evolving story. This article was published in Better Dwelling, August 31, 2021. It links ignoring Reed's and McAdam's warnings to today's housing crisis as well.
"Canadian tax authorities confirmed they knew about illicit foreign capital inflating real estate. They first found out over two decades ago, but only confirmed it to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) this week. A whistleblowing, retired auditor first told SCMP journalist Ian Young about the report in 2016. He waited half a decade for a response from the agency, which confirmed the study took place 25 years ago. The situation shares odd circumstances with an intelligence report mentioning foreign capital and real estate, called Sidewinder. Whistleblowers allege both reports, written one year apart, were suppressed for political reasons.
"Canada Hid A Foreign Capital & Housing Study While Dismissing Intelligence Warnings"
This begs the question - how much more evidence of harm to our country is needed before authorities act to protect and encourage honest employees to speak-up when they learn of wrong-doing and guarantee they will be listened to and their allegations seriously, openly and honestly investigated?