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Cameron Ortis arrives for his trial at the courthouse in Ottawa in November, 2023. Mr. Ortis was sentenced to 14 years in 2024 for violating the Security of Information Act.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Cameron Ortis, a former RCMP intelligence official who was convicted of violating Canada’s secrecy laws, is no longer in prison after being granted day parole earlier this year to facilitate his return to society.
Mr. Ortis was sentenced to 14 years in 2024 after a jury found him guilty of multiple counts of violating Canada’s Security of Information Act. The 54-year-old former RCMP intelligence director was accused of trying to pass along highly sensitive police dossiers to transnational gangs.
His sentence was reduced by about half because of the time he spent in pre-trial custody. He was first granted day parole in a decision by the Parole Board of Canada in February and it was renewed in August. It was not publicly reported until this week.
Day parole means that he can be out on his own during the day but must return to a halfway house or jail at night.
In its February decision, the board said he completed electrical and environmental courses in prison and also submitted 26 letters from friends and family about his “positive qualities and good character.”
“You have no prior criminal history,” the February ruling reads. It adds that “you pose a low risk to re-offend.”
That was extended for another six months in August.
“The board finds that your risk to re-offend can be safely managed on a day parole,” says the Aug. 25 ruling, which tells Mr. Ortis that “your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen.”
Mr. Ortis led an RCMP group that assembled secret information on cybercriminals, terror cells and transnational criminal networks.
He pleaded not guilty in court to all charges – including breaking the Security of Information Act by revealing classified information to three individuals of interest to police in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance.
Mr. Ortis, who was born and raised in British Columbia, obtained a PhD in political science and international relations and completed a postdoctoral fellowship.
Mr. Ortis testified he did not betray the RCMP. Rather, he said, he offered secret material to targets in a bid to get them to use an online encryption service set up by an allied intelligence agency to spy on adversaries.
The Crown argued Mr. Ortis had no authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of a legitimate undercover operation, though it could not pinpoint a motive.
Mr. Ortis is appealing his case. The Ontario Court of Appeal has scheduled a court date in November to hear Mr. Ortis’s arguments that he should never have been convicted in the first place.
“He maintains his innocence as he has throughout,” said Toronto lawyer Matthew Gourlay, who is representing Mr. Ortis, in an interview on Friday.
His parole conditions include a ban on using a cellphone without permission and from communicating with criminals. He has been ordered to surrender his electronic devices to searches upon demand and he must provide statements about how he handles money because he has been “debanked” – or cut off from Canadian financial institutions.
The board also told him that his crimes remain an enormous black eye for Canada.
“Your deceitfulness in willfully sharing this sensitive information resulted in detrimental impacts to your colleagues, Canadian law enforcement agencies and the Canadian public,” the Aug. 25 decision reads. “It will take many years to rebuild trust with international law enforcement partners.”
With reports from The Canadian Press