Project Sidewinder

The Project Sidewinder study was conducted by a joint Canadian intelligence task force, composed of members of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1997.[2]

Authors of the study allege after submitting the first draft, political interference led to the project being sidelined. Canada’s top spymaster is also accused of destroying evidence related to his case.[3]

Letters between CSIS and the RCMP reveal the report had been altered. The RCMP accused CSIS of altering the report in a way that ultimately undermined its integrity. CSIS acknowledged it altered the reports but maintains it was due to a disagreement of facts.[4]

A review by Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) followed the leak. It concludes there is no threat that is ignored by the country’s intelligence. As of 2021, academics say it is still unclear if that means the threat is overstated, or if intelligence is adequately monitoring the situation.[5]

In 2010, then director of CSIS Richard Fadden appeared on CBC News, and hinted the allegations are true. According to Fadden, the spy agency had been monitoring several members of British Columbia’s municipal government, due to the belief they are under the influence of foreign governments. He also alleged two provincial members of the Crown are under the influence of China, but declined to say which provinces.[6]

Fadden downplayed the seriousness of his allegations the following week, days ahead of the arrival of China’s Premiere for the G20 Summit in Canada.[7]

In 2021 Michel Juneau-Katsuya, one of the officers that worked on the original project testified to the Parliament of Canada they believe the evidence to be true. They cited an incident identified by Elections Canada, where they had found Chinese embassies had donated to political parties. This had been one of the key allegations made in Project Sidewinder.[8]

• A number of Canadian politicians are under the influence of Chinese intelligence. “The triads, the tycoons, and ChIS have learned the quick way to gain influence is to provide finance to the main political parties. Most of the companies identified in this research have contributed, sometimes several tens of thousands of dollars, to the two traditional parties, that is, the Liberal and Progressive-Conservative Parties,” reads the allegations.[2]
• Chinese intelligence is avoiding a crackdown in exchange for sharing influence in Canada.[1]
• Canadian real estate was bought and used by China in an organized fashion to sway local politics.[6]
• Chinese Intelligence Service (ChIS) uses specialists, students, and shell companies to “pursue their acquisition of economic intelligence.”
• A section in the report is titled “University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario,” but the allegations were redacted even in the leaked copy.[5]

The report sparked a number of investigations and national security books covering the allegations. One, Nest of Spies, is written by some of the former intelligence agents that authored the report.[9]

In 2021, Wilful Blindness by Sam Cooper was published, covering how the allegations in SIdewinder evolved into larger scale operations.[10]