1. Background to the articles which follow

1. Sidewinder-Echo scandal smoulders This column was published in the North Shore News on Sept. 6, 2000, by Leo Knight

Ever since the federal government's efforts to shut down the joint CSIS/RCMP Project Sidewinder became public last fall, there have been a great many more questions than answers.

Sidewinder, you'll recall, was an investigation into the influence exerted on Canadian politicians and policy by elements of Asian organized crime and the communist government of China. The original report stated that China was the single biggest national security risk facing this country.

Following what could only be called political interference by the Prime Minister's office, the investigation was prematurely closed and the report sanitized by CSIS under the new code name, "Echo." The shutting down of the investigation infuriated investigators with both CSIS and the RCMP. They argued there was more than sufficient evidence to warrant an expanded probe. But that was not to be.

Following the efforts of Province news editor Fabian Dawson and Globe and Mail reporter Andrew Mitrovica, and the six or so pieces appearing in this space, the issue began to gather a little steam. This is, and I don't say this lightly, the biggest scandal this country has ever seen.

Finally, after hollow denials by CSIS Director, Ward Elcock, the civilian watchdog, the Security Intelligence Review Committee announced they were going to look into the matter. It appeared as though something might just crack which could shed some light into the dark corridors of the PMO.

[. . . .] Not so, said SIRC's executive director Susan Pollak in an interview with Mitrovica last week. "We have a lot on our plate and we are a small agency," Pollak was quoted as saying in the Globe. "But I wouldn't want to give you a date (of the report's release) because sometimes things happen that create slippage."

Slippage? What the hell is that? Is that how she describes a discreet call from the PMO?

While this goes on, RCMP Sergeant Luc Lemaire is busy calling reporters who have written on the subject. He is trying to build a case against suspended Mountie Corporal Robert Read, who blew the whistle on the political interference involved in covering up the penetration of our embassy in Hong Kong by elements of Asian organized crime. Lemaire is doing the government's dirty work by trying to shoot the messenger.

Check out these links:

a. on ex RCMP Corporal Read, whistleblower, Robert Read Asian Triads

b. on the same site, Grits thwarted Asian crime probe: Alliance from September 19, 2003, National Post, by Stewart Bell and Tom Blackwell

[. . . .] Former Foreign Services officer, Brian McAdam, who first discovered and reported the criminal penetration, says this is all about the corruption of our politicians who have grown fat on the massive political contributions made by corporations such as those controlled by two of the major subjects of the Sidewinder probe, Stanley Ho and Li Ka Shing.

Let's try and understand why the prime minister might possibly be interested in keeping a lid on the Sidewinder ramifications.

Chretien's son-in-law is Andre Desmarais. He runs a huge company called Power Corp. Conveniently, Desmarais does a lot of business in China and actually holds a seat of the board of CITIC, described as the investment arm of the Chinese military, according to intelligence sources. [Also, see note and links for CITIC in the next article. NJC]

Who else is on the board? Why it's Li himself. And wait a minute, didn't Li own a significant portion of Gordon Securities, the same company Chretien worked for and made his fortune with, when he took a sabbatical from politics prior to taking the leadership of the federal Liberal party?

Couldn't that mean that just possibly, Chretien's name came up in the Sidewinder investigation?