RCMP ‘bugs’ found ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES EXPOSED On April 27, 1979, a ceiling tile collapsed in an office of the head- Quarters of the Communist Party of Canada in Toronto, and exposed electronic eavesdropping devices. Later investigations re- Yealed an extensive system of bugging operations. TP a Since the discoveries were made, the Communist Party has &cused the RCMP of being responsible for the bugging opera- tlon. The articles, photos, and diagrams in this special section of the Canadian Tribune reveal the extent of the bugging operation &nd the demands made by the Communist Party of Canada for an Investigation to find those responsible for the acts. This special section also points to the inherently anti-democratic 4 90d criminal nature of the activities of the RCMP in their attacks §gainst individuals and organizations which challenge the “status quo”. The final article is. an abridged version of the brief presented to the McDonald Commission by the Communist Party in January, 1978. TORONTO — The electronic €avesdropping systems disco- Yered in the Communist Party adquarters at 24 Cecil St. were €xtensive, undoubtedly expen- sive and undeniably offensive. _ The extensiveness can be seen in the first system which is tied into the circuitry and cables of ell Telephone. This system con- ed nine sets of microphones and amplifiers. Each of the meeting rooms on the second floor had at least one Of these sets in either the base- ards or suspended above false Ceilings. The second floor rooms and offices are presently used by Members of the central staff of the Mmunist Party. Two other sets Were found in the large. meeting On the first floor as well as in Office of the Metro Committee f the Communist Party, also lo- on the first floor. Extensive The extensiveness of the sys- 3 M can also be seen in the maze A Wiring which was discovered. S new sets of wires were unco- peed behind plaster which had n pepanteds it also became obvious that to install the wires originally, holes had to be drilled through baseboards and through bricks, sections of floors and ceil- ings had to be removed and then replaced, and the wires had to be ‘*fished’’ between floor and ceiling joists and wall studs, as well as between two brick walls. From each separate set of mic- rophones and amplifiers, the wires led to the supposedly ‘‘unused”’ Bell telephone termi- nal box on the first floor where they were connected to the Bell cable which, in turn, leads to the pole behind the building. The place of manufacture of the microphones and amplifiers is still largely unknown. All of the specifications have been scratched out, but from the size and nature of the components it is obvious that the amplifiers and microphones are approximately 15 to 20 years old. Both the mic- rophones and the amplifiers ap- pear to be custom built with the connections soldered for perma- nent use. : The microphone and amplifier -sets have also proven to be very f7 sensitive, and tests conducted by » a Toronto television station re- vealed that the sets could pick up and amplify voices which were 15-25 feet away. The Bell Connection Recent discoveries of illegal splices in the “‘unused’’ terminal box on the first floor indicate clearly that not only was the Bell telephone system used as the . means of carrying the tapped conversations but also that the .Bell system was used at the power source to activate the amplifiers and microphones. As soon as the Bell system was suspected of being the transmit- ting and power supplier to the eavesdropping system, the Communist Party invited Bell of- ficials to inspect. their wires and cables. But after a cursory inspec- tion, Bell officials declared that ‘the eavesdropping devices were not plugged into the Bell system.”’ Further. investigations of the wiring and circuitry by Party workers, however, revealed still more evidence of the use of the Bell system. The Communist Party then conducted a press con- ference showing not only the amplifiers and microphones but also the splices in the Bell system and their connection to the eavesdropping devices. After the press conference, Bell officials told members of the press that “they (Bell Canada) were pre- Photo left: The internal compo- nents of the transmitter. Seen clearly are the markings of KEL Corporation and the unit’s broad- cast frequency of 221.00 kilohertz. Photo right: The internal compo- nents of the amplifier with the foil removed. Each component was Individually soldered and the en- tire unit custom-made. pared to send officials to re- inspect the wires — if they were invited to do so again.” The Communist Party then re- invited the Bell telephone officials to re-inspect their wires and ca- bles. Bell sent W. (Bill) Thomp- son, a member of Bell’s security division, who, after looking at the wires, stated, ‘‘It looks as though someone has cut into our cable illegally.’’ It was the first admis- sion by Bell officials that their sys- tem was a part of the wiretapping devices, Bell telephone notified Metro police of their findings, and the police began their investiga- tion of Bell’s complaint, by send- ing two detectives to 24 Cecil St. The detectives inspected the evidence of the wiretappings, col- lected samples of the plaster and baseboards, were shown where the electronic eavesdropping de- vices were located and. were vol- . untarily given a set of the ampli- fiers and microphones by the Communist Party. Section 178.18 a Then, somewhat ironically, the police informed Communist Party officials that ‘‘you (the Party of- ficials) are illegally in possession of electronic eavesdropping de- vices.”” They later quoted section 178.18 of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that such an offence carries with it a maximum of two years imprisonment if con- victed. A few days later, after the Communist Party had requested a written request from the police for the materials, the police returned, and after producing a search war- rant, seized the remaining de- — vices. In the course of the investiga- tion of the illegal wiretapping, Sgt. Hurst of the Metro police asked Party officials who they thought might be responsible for the wiretapping. When Party of- - ficials replied, ‘“We have said be- fore and we say again that we sus- pect it was the RCMP. Who do you think did it?’’ Sgt. Hurst’s only reply was a wry smile. The Second System The second system which Party workers discovered, while not as extensive as the first which was tied into the Bell system, is e Continued on Page 6 - PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 22, 1979—Page 5