The chair of a parliamentary committee responsible for monitoring Canada’s spy service quit on Thursday, officials said, amid questions over a deal with a man allegedly linked to shady arms deals.
In a brief statement, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Arthur Porter “has submitted his resignation to me and I have accepted it, effective immediately.”
Porter was appointed chair of the five-member Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) by Harper only a year ago to oversee the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s operations.
In his letter of resignation made public, Porter pointed to an article published last week in the National Post that challenged his “credibility and contributions to Canada, notably with regard to my role as the chair of the Security and Intelligence Review Committee.”
Eyebrows were raised after it was revealed that Porter, an oncologist born in Sierra Leone, had wired C$200,000 (US$196,000) in personal funds for an African aid project to an Iranian-born Jew, who has admitted to past roles in coup plots and arms deals.
The National Post reported that Porter had struck a deal with Ari Ben-Menashe to also raise additional funds “for infrastructure development in Sierra Leone.”
Ben-Menashe was arrested in the late 1980s on US allegations that he sold military aircraft to Iran. He went on trial, but was acquitted. This and other murky dealings are documented in his memoir titled Profits of War and many court proceedings.
Porter in his letter denied any wrongdoing and said he never let “other business interests interfere with my SIRC responsibilities.”
“The devastating aftermath of the civil war [in Sierra Leone] naturally motivated me to explore options to help the country to rebuild its infrastructure,” he wrote. “I worry that the media portrayal has the potential to tarnish the SIRC’s credibility. I feel strongly that even the hint of doubt could impede the SIRC’s ability to accomplish its tasks.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese