Worthington- dusting off sidewinder

"REJECTED AND buried eight years ago, the "Sidewinder" inquiry by an RCMP-CSIS team into Chinese espionage and investment in Canada has suddenly gained currency, due to last week's revelations by an ex-spy from China in Australia.

In a way, the most outrageous thing about the Sidewinder project was not its cancellation, but the media's lack of interest.

The brainchild of former Hong Kong-based immigration control officer Brian MacAdam and RCMP Cpl. Robert Read, Project Sidewinder investigated and analyzed China's massive economic investment into Canada, and its potential for espionage. "

Bob MacDonald....

"In other words, it's obious that the only way the free enterprise Conservatives are going to get real power in Parliament is by winning a federal election. It's called people power -- not the kind that Paul Martin and his Liberal minority government still hold through various tricky deals made with Parliament's two socialist parties."

HEH

Not enough decent, hard working ,law abiding immigrants available that the government has to allow this type of activity to go on?Reminds one of what

happened to RCMP Cpl. Read when he brought "irregularities" to light trying to keep gangsters out of the country and got fired for his efforts.From strippers to family members of a former head of intelligence of a police state- some people in the government have terrible judgement or are so brazen they figure Canadians don't care and they can get away with anything. Meanwhile honest immigrants , well educated , who would make good Canadian citizens, are backlogged when they play by the rules.

Looks like this needs to get a thorough review.Who signed the papers?Who approved this?

It is common for the children of senior Syrian regime figures to travel to Canada to deliver their children, the source added. "The political interest is to have a safe haven for their children and also to guarantee study for them at low cost........"


According to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, there is no rule or law preventing the practice.

"You can be sure that there were consultations at very high levels and there was a political decision made, in the interests of 'good relations,' " Mr. Waldman said.

Richard Kurland, also an immigration lawyer, noted the irony of the case, considering Canada's recent experiences with Syria.

"Our Middle East foreign policy bureaucrats couldn't manage to get Arar out of a Syrian prison, but they sure could facilitate citizenship for the family of Syria's notorious intelligence director," he said.

"I would sure like to know who was at the switch."

Also read


"Why is Canada doing diplomatic favours for senior members of Syria's hard-line regime? The daughter and daughter-in-law of General Bahjat Suleiman, until recently the chief of Syrian domestic intelligence, have received visitors' visas from the Canadian embassy in Damascus so they can give birth in Canada. Their babies are Canadian citizens. Those babies may grow up to study in Canada at taxpayer expense, or to try to bring their parents and other relatives to Canada using family-reunification provisions in immigration law. They may be lovely babies who mature into fine people, but it is hard to see why Canada would grant such favours to the top security officials of a police state"

Gertz re: China

Energy supply a factor
For China, Taiwan is not the only issue behind the buildup of military forces. Beijing also is facing a major energy shortage that, according to one Pentagon study, could lead it to use military force to seize territory with oil and gas resources.
The report produced for the Office of Net Assessment, which conducts assessments of future threats, was made public in January and warned that China's need for oil, gas and other energy resources is driving the country toward becoming an expansionist power.
China "is looking not only to build a blue-water navy to control the sea lanes [from the Middle East], but also to develop undersea mines and missile capabilities to deter the potential disruption of its energy supplies from potential threats, including the U.S. Navy, especially in the case of a conflict with Taiwan," the report said.
The report said China believes the United States already controls the sea routes from the oil-rich Persian Gulf through the Malacca Strait. Chinese President Hu Jintao has called this strategic vulnerability to disrupted energy supplies Beijing's "Malacca Dilemma."
To prevent any disruption, China has adopted a "string of pearls" strategy that calls for both offensive and defensive measures stretching along the oil-shipment sea lanes from China's coast to the Middle East.
The "pearls" include the Chinese-financed seaport being built at Gwadar, on the coast of western Pakistan, and commercial and military efforts to establish bases or diplomatic ties in Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and disputed islands in the South China Sea.