The watchdog of Canada's spy agency has finally said what many - especially the five Muslim men held under security certificates - have known for some time. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service does shoddy work and for some strange reason known only to it, destroys key pieces of evidence such as tape recordings and notes. In a secret report, obtained by news organizations last week, Paule Gauthier, former chairperson of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, slammed CSIS for a hasty, slipshod investigation and a "regrettable" attitude that people supporting Arab causes are suspect.Her comments are the result of a complaint by Bhupinder S. Liddar, a Kenyan-born Sikh Canadian, whom CSIS declared a security risk after his diplomatic appointment to India. He ended up not getting the job. This week, Liddar was reinstated.

Gauthier said CSIS's investigation relied on uncorroborated and/or unreliable sources and destroyed its notes before the case could be reviewed.

It all sounds so familiar.

Adil Charkaoui, the Moroccan-born Montrealer Canada believes is a terrorist, has been trying to defend himself in a process shrouded in secrecy. And it's hardly a coincidence, in this post-9/11 era of paranoia, that the five people being held right now on such certificates are Muslims.

Disturbingly, Gauthier says that CSIS suspicions about Liddar arose mainly because of his support for Arab causes. She said this attitude and the "distorting effect on the interpretation of Mr. Liddar's actions, has persisted in to the present time."

Charkaoui revealed on his citizenship application that he had traveled to Pakistan in 1998, setting off alarm bells. CSIS then got Ahmed Ressam to identify Charkaoui as being in a training camp in Afghanistan. But keep in mind that Ressam gave this information while awaiting sentencing for plotting to blow up Los Angeles Airport. Not exactly the most credible source.

And just like in the Liddar case, CSIS destroyed the notes it took during interviews with Charkaoui. How can the judge, who has to decide whether the certificate is reasonable and will therefore result in deportation with no chance of appeal, possibly make a reasoned decision when key evidence has been destroyed? Instead, CSIS provides a report on the interview, which in the absence of tapes or notes could easily be doctored. In fact, says Gauthier, while investigating complaints about CSIS, they often hear that agents tend to distort interview material or take it out of context.

CSIS claims it's not a police force, so is under no obligation to collect evidence. Yet, it has enormous power to intrude on the privacy of individuals and influence the direction their lives might take. You'd think CSIS would have to provide some solid proof to do so.

Such shoddy work makes it a laughingstock. The agency erased hundreds of hours of taped phone calls of the guy suspected of being the mastermind behind the Air India bombing, a move the judge in the case said showed "unacceptable negligence." And south of the border, a judge in the trial of Ressam was perplexed as to why CSIS would destroy tape recordings of conversations among Ressam and other Algerians.

"Apparently, this is the Canadian way of doing things," he said.

In her damning report, Gauthier said there is no reason why such notes could not be preserved for a reasonable period so they are available to the review committee. She said she was tired of seeing this happen.

The watchdog agency is meant to keep an eye on CSIS to make sure it doesn't abuse its power and trample on people's rights and freedoms.

Maybe it should start by taking away the office shredder.

smontgomery at thegazette dot canwest dot com

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