The scope of damage caused by Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle, the naval officer at the centre of an international espionage embarrassment, is unknown, says an official at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Delisle, 41, is in a Nova Scotia court for a two-day hearing after pleading guilty in October to breach of trust and passing information to a foreign entity that could harm Canada's interests.
The case of a Canadian in uniform selling a vast horde of secrets to the Russians is unprecedented.
Delisle is the first Canadian charged under the Security of Information Act. That means the judge has no prior cases to help him sentence the former threat assessment officer with a top secret clearance.
At stake for Delisle is the possibility of a life sentence for attempting to sell Canadian and allied secrets over a four year period.
The wild card at the hearing could be Delisle himself. It's possible that he could take the stand and speak in his own defence.
Since he was arrested in January 2012, he has remained silent and in jail.
Security breach
The first Crown witness to take the stand was Michelle Tessier, director general of internal security at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. She is responsible for personal security and damage assessment after a security breach at CSIS.
Tessier told the court that damage caused by Delisle is still being assessed because it is "ongoing."
"It's extremely concerning to us."
The court heard how Delisle's betrayal involved revealing names and phone numbers of CSIS agents.
"For us, there is a potential loss of life," Tessier said.
"There's an expectation that you will protect that information. It's all about trust. It's about trust. It's about confidence."
On Dec. 9, 2011, Delisle attempted to send secret "Canadian eyes only" documents to Russians, she said.
'Security, quite frankly, was lax, to put it mildly." —Mike Taylor
Tessier said his activities could have tipped off Russia about what Canada has on them.
Under cross-examination, Tessier said she doesn't know the extent of what Delisle gave to the Russians.
"There's a lot of uncertainty," said defence lawyer Mike Taylor.
"You're still offering opinion without definite confirmation."
Tessier maintained that what Delisle did was "very severe."
"We can't take that information back. It's gone," she said.
Approached Russians
The story began when Delisle walked into the Russian Embassy in Ottawa wearing a red ball cap and civilian clothes. He flashed his Canadian military identification and asked to meet with someone from GRU, the Russian military intelligence.
Delisle was posted to the security unit HMCS Trinity, an intelligence facility at the naval dockyard in Halifax. It tracks vessels entering and exiting Canadian waters via satellites, drones and underwater devices.
There he had access to Stone Ghost, an allied system.
On Thursday, the Crown revealed that Delisle also had access to a Department of National Defence secret system and a computer system dealing with message traffic, a NATO system and Mandrake, a government of Canada secret system.
Delisle had to sign a confidentiality agreement to get access to all these secret data bases, according to the Crown.
"Security, quite frankly, was lax, to put it mildly," said defence lawyer Taylor.
Tessier told the court that the Five Eyes, the intelligence alliance between the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, has decided to increase its level of security for Canada because of Delisle
If Canada doesn't satisfy its allies with security upgrades "there's a risk we may be cut off," she said.
In court, Delisle sat quietly, hands in his lap, staring straight ahead, reported CBC's Blair Rhodes.
Delisle is still officially in the navy and drawing pay. The Department of National Defence says that will change once the judge renders his sentence.
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