Secret Service
Political Policing in Canada from the Fenians to Fortress America
Published on 24. July 2012
Book
Hardback
720 pages
978-0-8020-0752-0 (ISBN)
Description
Secret Service provides the first comprehensive history of political policing in Canada - from its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century, through two world wars and the Cold War to the more recent 'war on terror.' This book reveals the extent, focus, and politics of government-sponsored surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations.
Drawing on previously classified government records, the authors reveal that for over 150 years, Canada has run spy operations largely hidden from public or parliamentary scrutiny - complete with undercover agents, secret sources, agent provocateurs, coded communications, elaborate files, and all the usual apparatus of deception and betrayal so familiar to fans of spy fiction. As they argue, what makes Canada unique among Western countries is its insistent focus of its surveillance inwards, and usually against Canadian citizens.
Secret Service highlights the many tensions that arise when undercover police and their covert methods are deployed too freely in a liberal democratic society. It will prove invaluable to readers attuned to contemporary debates about policing, national security, and civil rights in a post-9/11 world.
Drawing on previously classified government records, the authors reveal that for over 150 years, Canada has run spy operations largely hidden from public or parliamentary scrutiny - complete with undercover agents, secret sources, agent provocateurs, coded communications, elaborate files, and all the usual apparatus of deception and betrayal so familiar to fans of spy fiction. As they argue, what makes Canada unique among Western countries is its insistent focus of its surveillance inwards, and usually against Canadian citizens.
Secret Service highlights the many tensions that arise when undercover police and their covert methods are deployed too freely in a liberal democratic society. It will prove invaluable to readers attuned to contemporary debates about policing, national security, and civil rights in a post-9/11 world.
Reviews / Votes
'Secret Service provides an excellent overview of how Canada's security service engaged in the political policing of its citizens over the course of Canadian History... It serves as one of the most complete studies ever produced on the topic.' - Dennis Molinaro (Canadian Historical Review, vol 94:01:2013) 'An excellent history... Deeply scholarly yet refreshing unacademic in its tone and temper, the text bridges with considerable skill the requirements of rigorous, measured analysis of a wide variety of sources that is inherent in good history... The book deserves to be widely read.'- Jez Littlewood (Literary Review of Canada vol 21:04:2013) 'This book, rich in both detail and analysis, is the definitive source on political policing in Canada. It should be of interest to all those interested in Canadian history as well as to specialists in the history of policing and intelligence.' - Kent Roach (Law and History Review, May 2014) 'This is a must read for anyone interested in intelligence in Canada... It is also a very important study for those interested in how the boundaries of race, class, gender, and difference were coercively enforced by a secret state within the state.' - Jeremy Buddenhagen (BC Studies number 182: summer 2014) 'Secret Service provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Canada's capabilities and objectives in political policing... The information is presented in a refreshingly jargon-free manner.'
- Curtis Robinson (Canadian Military History vol 24:02:2015)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
25 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 41 mm
Weight
1089 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8020-0752-0 (9780802007520)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Reginald Whitaker is a professor of Political Science, York University.
Gregory S. Kealey is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of New Brunswick. He is the editor of University of Toronto Press's Canadian Social History Series and former president of the Canadian Historical Association and the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Andrew Parnaby is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Cape Breton University.
Gregory S. Kealey is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of New Brunswick. He is the editor of University of Toronto Press's Canadian Social History Series and former president of the Canadian Historical Association and the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Andrew Parnaby is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Cape Breton University.
Content
Table of Contents
Introduction: Political Policing in Canada
Part I: Origins
Chapter 1: The Empire Strikes Back
Chapter 2: 'You drive us Hindus out of Canada and we will drive every white man out of India!'
Chapter 3: A War on Two Fronts
Part II: Survival and Revival
Chapter 4: The RCMP, the Communist Party, and the Consolidation of Canada's Cold War
Chapter 5: 'Redder Than Ever': Political Policing During the Great Depression
Chapter 6: Keep the Home Fires Burning, 1939-1945
Part III: Cold War Canada
Chapter 7: The Ice Age: Mounties on the Cold War Front Line, 1945-1969
Chapter 8: The Coyote, the Roadrunner, and the Reds under the Bed: Communist Espionage and Subversion
Part IV: Separatists, Scandals, and Reform
Chapter 9: National Unity, National Security: the Quebec Conundrum
Chapter 10: 'I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!': The Creation of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Chapter 11:Old Wine into New Bottles: CSIS, 1984-2001
Part V: After the Twin Towers
Chapter 12: After the Deluge: In the Shadow of the Twin Towers, 2001-2010
Chapter 13: No More Mr. Nice Spy: CSIS and the Dark Side of the War on Terror
Conclusion: Policing Canadian Democracy
Endnotes
Introduction: Political Policing in Canada
Part I: Origins
Chapter 1: The Empire Strikes Back
Chapter 2: 'You drive us Hindus out of Canada and we will drive every white man out of India!'
Chapter 3: A War on Two Fronts
Part II: Survival and Revival
Chapter 4: The RCMP, the Communist Party, and the Consolidation of Canada's Cold War
Chapter 5: 'Redder Than Ever': Political Policing During the Great Depression
Chapter 6: Keep the Home Fires Burning, 1939-1945
Part III: Cold War Canada
Chapter 7: The Ice Age: Mounties on the Cold War Front Line, 1945-1969
Chapter 8: The Coyote, the Roadrunner, and the Reds under the Bed: Communist Espionage and Subversion
Part IV: Separatists, Scandals, and Reform
Chapter 9: National Unity, National Security: the Quebec Conundrum
Chapter 10: 'I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!': The Creation of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Chapter 11:Old Wine into New Bottles: CSIS, 1984-2001
Part V: After the Twin Towers
Chapter 12: After the Deluge: In the Shadow of the Twin Towers, 2001-2010
Chapter 13: No More Mr. Nice Spy: CSIS and the Dark Side of the War on Terror
Conclusion: Policing Canadian Democracy
Endnotes