Dozens of pages from a decades-old intelligence file on socialist icon Tommy Douglas have mysteriously disappeared.
The disappearance came to light during a lengthy court battle over the federal government's refusal to fully disclose the RCMP dossier on the former Saskatchewan premier and one-time federal NDP leader.
Library and Archives Canada, which currently holds the 1,142-page dossier, initially released just over 450 heavily censored pages in response to a request by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
But the government partially lifted the shroud of secrecy a week before a court hearing into the matter began in February, releasing almost 400 additional pages under a new, more relaxed policy governing the release of historically significant documents.
It was only then, with fuller access to the file, that Paul Champ, lawyer for The Canadian Press, realized about four dozen pages were missing.
What disappoints him is that no one at the archives nor in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service — which had supposedly thoroughly reviewed and vetted the original documents — appears to have noticed.
"It's just disappointing that at the end it seems like this important file was not reviewed with the thoroughness we would expect," he said in an interview.
"It does seem like no one really seemed to care that pages were missing."
After Champ notified Federal Court, Judge Simon Noel ordered the government to look for the lost pages. The search didn't turn up any of the missing pages identified by Champ but it found seven other additional pages of material in the original Douglas file, which somehow hadn't made it into the digitally scanned copy used in responding to the access request.
In a written submission to the court earlier this month, the government insisted "there is no evidence of a lack of good faith" in its handling of the Douglas dossier.
"The respondent has been candid, direct and forthcoming with the court when dealing with discrepancies in the records."
The government said the missing pages identified by Champ were not in the original file transferred to Library and Archives in 2000 from CSIS, which had taken over the dossier from the now-defunct RCMP security service in 1984.
The archives "does not take steps to confirm the completeness of the records received from a government institution" and CSIS did not retain a copy.
Pages haven't been found
The government assured the court "no actions were taken" to remove pages before responding to the access request. And it concluded there is no remedy "because the pages can not be found in the existing file."
Champ said he finds it surprising that Library and Archives would take such a lackadaisical approach to historical documents.
"They do have some kind of legal duty as the primary institution responsible for our cultural heritage to ensure that historically important files are maintained and are kept intact and are preserved," he said.
"They're responsible for protecting Canada's documentary heritage and their handling of this file makes me question whether they're discharging all of their responsibilities in that regard."
PMO following case
There is at least one arm of government that is not treating the Douglas files cavalierly: the Prime Minister's Office.
Documents released under a separate access-to-information request show that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office has been kept informed about the progress of the court case.
A February "memorandum for the prime minister" detailed the new policy regarding release of historically significant intelligence records and advised that the release of additional material from the Douglas dossier "is going to attract media attention as these documents will disclose, for the first time, some of Mr. Douglas's private communications with other parliamentarians."
From Champ's perspective, however, the additional material released in February simply raised questions as to why the government had refused to disclose it in the first place. Among other things, the new information suggested the RCMP treated black U.S. army deserters differently than white deserters, picking them up and escorting them back across the border.
"Was this embarrassing revelation one of the reasons why CSIS wanted the memo withheld?"
The material released to date shows that the RCMP Security Service shadowed Douglas for more than three decades, attending his speeches, analysing his writings and eavesdropping on private conversations. His links to the peace movement and Communist party members were of particular interest.
The government maintains full disclosure of the Douglas file would jeopardize the country's ability to detect, prevent or suppress "subversive or hostile activities" and could give away secrets of the spy trade.
Jim Bronskill, a reporter for The Canadian Press, launched a court challenge in 2009 after the federal information commissioner agreed with the government that most of the dossier should be kept under wraps.