Former intelligence agent raises concerns about minister's former girlfriend, biker gang

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OTTAWA - The link between Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier's ex-girlfriend and the Hells Angels is more than enough to warrant a national security probe, says the Bloc Quebecois, noting that organized crime gangs use "infiltration tactics."

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The Canadian Press

Maxime Bernier arrives to be sworn in as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs accompanied by Julie Couillard during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa last year. The link between the foreign affairs minister’s ex-girlfriend and the Hells Angels is more than enough to warrant a national security probe, says the Bloc Quebecois.

The Conservative government continues to dismiss security concerns over Bernier's relationship with Julie Couillard, and accuse the opposition of unfairly opening up his private life.

But even the RCMP has warned about criminal infiltration of politics. As long as eight years ago, then-RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli shocked MPs by publicly stating that organized crime was targeting Parliament and other national institutions.

A former CSIS agent whose investigative work has been referenced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper backed up the Bloc position yesterday.

Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former Mountie who spent 21 years with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said Couillard's past biker associations demand the attention of security officials.

Bernier's year-long relationship with Couillard apparently ended recently.

Couillard has no criminal record and has never been charged with anything, but her close association to two former bikers -- one of whom was slain in a gangland killing -- is prompting opposition MPs to ask whether she's been vetted by security.

"Is this something that right now could generate a probe? If you want to be on the safe side, it should generate a probe," Juneau-Katsuya told The Canadian Press.

"If you don't want to be on the safe side, and try to kill this as soon as possible because it embarrasses you in the press, you're unlikely to call for a probe."

Juneau-Katsuya retired as senior CSIS intelligence officer in 2000 and now runs his own security firm. His work on Chinese industrial espionage was cited in the Commons by Harper in 2005.

"People have been caught acting on behalf of organized crime, infiltrating various levels of government with the intention to act and behave for the organized crime," he said, without providing details.

"Because we have this track record, because we know it did happen in the past, that's why it needs to be looked at."

The RCMP, asked yesterday about the ongoing threat, released a carefully worded statement:

"Organized crime can reach into every area of our lives with vast resources at its disposal and its ability to penetrate legitimate social and economic structures," said Chief Supt. Mike Cabana.

"Organized crime has the potential to wreak enormous damage upon the fabric of Canadian life."

The force continues to make tackling organized crime a priority, he said.

When Bloc MP Pierre Paquette raised the matter of infiltration tactics in the Commons, Conservative House leader Peter Van Loan shot back what has become the standard government response.

The prime minister, said Van Loan, "has no intention of controlling the personal relationships of his caucus."

Liberal MP Bob Rae respectfully asked Van Loan to simply confirm that the government has ensured there is no security problem. "I am sure that would go a long way to satisfying members of the House that in fact the appropriate steps have been taken," said Rae.

Van Loan said the government takes national security seriously, adding: "We do not see that asking questions about the private lives of ministers in the fashion that the opposition has fits that bill."