Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP
Paul Palango is the author of three authoritative books about the RCMP. His latest, Dispersing the Fog, is an expose of the relationship between politics and the justice system in Canada since the 1980s. Anyone who cares about the rule of law in Canada will find this book an extraordinary eye-opener.
China-watchers will be especially interested in the references to Project Sidewinder, the ill-fated inquiry triggered by whistleblower Brian McAdam's discovery in the early 1990's that the Canadian immigration system in Hong Kong had been infiltrated by organized crime. Hundreds of Chinese triad members were having their criminal records expunged from the mission's computers so that they could migrate to Canada and set up shop here.
McAdam's career came to an abrupt end when he tried to get this problem dealt with, and several subsequent 'investigations' failed to avoid finding anything amiss. The RCMP's Project Sidewinder came closest, but was abruptly shut down when it began to confirm McAdam's claims. The Sidewinder report was ordered destroyed, and the mass of documentary evidence McAdam had provided was shredded.
Who were the people behind this apparent obstruction of justice, and how could they exert such influence over our national police force? Palango's book provides plausible – and disturbing – answers.
The following two excerpts from Dispersing the Fog were published in the National Post:
Also, three articles about Brian McAdam's career, published in the Ottawa Citizen: