Cameron Ortis, ex-RCMP official accused of leaking secrets, says he did nothing wrong

Cameron Ortis, the former high-ranking RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking top-secret intelligence to police targets, told court recently that while he has some regrets, his actions were "not wrong."

The Crown alleges Ortis used his position as the head of a highly secret unit within the RCMP to attempt to sell intelligence gathered by Canada and its Five Eyes allies to individuals linked to the criminal underworld.

Ortis has pleaded not guilty to all six charges against him. His defence team says he was acting on "secret information" sent by a foreign agency to protect Canada from "serious and imminent threats."

Ortis began testifying in his own defence last week, behind closed doors. A redacted transcript of what he told the jury a week ago was released to reporters Thursday night.

The former civilian member of the RCMP told the jury his "mission was to meet the threats to the security of Canada head on."

"Do you regret acting now?" asked his defence lawyer, Mark Ertel.

"I don't make decisions based on my career or career prospects, but I couldn't have envisioned or imagined that all of this would transpire," said Ortis.

"Of course, in some sense I regret everything that's happened over the last four years to everyone, but what I did was not wrong." 

Ortis said his arrest has been personally "devastating."

He said his pension and possessions are "all gone" and his reputation has been "completely destroyed."

"Family stood by me. Friends did not," he said.

"Friends from the old days in British Columbia who I've known for a long time have stood by me, but friends and colleagues in Ottawa and professional contacts have not."

The 51-year-old faces six charges, including multiple counts under the Security of Information Act, the law meant to protect Canada's secrets. He is accused of sharing special operational information "intentionally and without authority" with three men, and of attempting to share information with another.

During the first few hours of his testimony, he detailed how he joined the RCMP to work in the critical infrastructure intelligence program, which dealt with threats against things like dams, telecommunication systems and passenger rail.