Canada Claims Widespread Soviet Spying

The Soviet Union was engaged in a wide-ranging espionage operation in Canada designed to obtain classified information for commercial and military purposes, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark said today.

Clark said the spy ring posed a threat to national security and included an attempt to penetrate the security service of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady Gerasimov strongly suggested that the Soviet Union would expel some Canadian citizens in response to Canada’s expulsion of 17 Soviet diplomats.

At a news conference, Gerasimov read a protest against the action of the Canadian government and said the “provocation . . . naturally will not remain without due reply.”

17 Diplomats Expelled

Clark was commenting in the House of Commons a day after Prime Minister Brian Mulroney disclosed that Canada had ordered the expulsion of 17 Soviet diplomats on charges of industrial espionage.

“The government acted after a thorough investigation and analysis which led us to an inescapable conclusion that the Soviet officials concerned had engaged in unacceptable activities which were a threat to the security of this country,” Clark said.

He named the 17 diplomats but said he did not intend to provide details of their activities.

“We are confident that Canadian security was not compromised,” he told the hushed chamber, adding that investigations were continuing.

Several Unrelated Operations

Clark said that the 17 officials were not engaged in a single large conspiracy and that several unrelated Soviet operations were the subject of Canadian investigations.

Clark said the investigations were complex and took place over an unspecified period before Ottawa decided last week to take action against all the cases at the same time.

He also said a Soviet citizen attached to the secretariat of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal had provided useful information to Canadian security officers and had applied to remain in Canada.

He declined to provide any further details of that case.