Wesley Wark has served as a court expert witness in several national security cases. He writes a Substack newsletter on national security and intelligence.
, and the first in decades to be decided by a jury.
The Ortis case may give impetus to a decision looming over the Mounties. Should its federal policing mandate be separated out entirely from contract policing in Canada’s provinces and territories, duties that form the bulk of the RCMP’s current mission? A recent report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians has urged Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc to give this idea serious consideration.
The “why” matters, as the RCMP tries to fix its internal security problems and be better postured to deal with insider threats. The study of the Ortis case will have to continue even after he is behind bars.