Secret Service: Political Policing in Canada From the Fenians to Fortress America

by Reg Whitaker, Gregory S. Kealey, Andrew Parnaby

Secret Service provides the first comprehensive history of political policing in Canada – from its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century, through two world wars and the Cold War to the more recent 'war on terror.' This book reveals the extent, focus, and politics of government-sponsored surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations.

Drawing on previously classified government records, the authors reveal that for over 150 years, Canada has run spy operations largely hidden from public or parliamentary scrutiny – complete with undercover agents, secret sources, agent provocateurs, coded communications, elaborate files, and all the usual apparatus of deception and betrayal so familiar to fans of spy fiction. As they argue, what makes Canada unique among Western countries is its insistent focus of its surveillance inwards, and usually against Canadian citizens.

Secret Service highlights the many tensions that arise when undercover police and their covert methods are deployed too freely in a liberal democratic society. It will prove invaluable to readers attuned to contemporary debates about policing, national security, and civil rights in a post-9/11 world.

Genres: Canada, History

720 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2012

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive in scale and scope, this really covers everything secret policing and CSIS since pre confederation until 2013 when it was published. Not as critical of the state nor of policing, as I believe the subject demand. Overall the book is a valuable historical reference book.

[Jean-François Lisée · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très impressionnant ouvrage couvrant la totalité de l'action des services secrets canadiens, des débuts du pays jusqu'à la période contemporaine.
Les auteurs puisent à la fois dans la totalité de la recherche universitaire, des essais publiés et de leur accès aux documents déclassifiés de la GRC.
Leur point de vue est qu'un État doit disposer de services secrets, mais dans le respect des droits individuels. Ils tentent de trouver un point d'équilibre et c'est le grand mérite de cet ouvrage de traiter toutes les sources avec sérieux.
J'ai cité ce livre dans mon ouvrage Guerre Froide, PQ, à paraître en octobre 2020