RCMP says relationships with allies ‘strong’ after report FBI stopped co-operation following CBC 9/11 memo

The head of the RCMP says the national law enforcement agency maintains “strong relationships” with its allies, seemingly downplaying reports that FBI Director Kash Patel sought to punish Canada for a CBC memo regarding how to describe 9/11.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme was responding to a report from the New York Times on Friday alleging Patel temporarily halted some co-operation with the Mounties in retaliation to a leaked CBC internal memo instructing reporters to not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks ahead of the 25th anniversary.

CBC has a longstanding policy to generally avoid labelling specific acts as terrorism without attribution.

In a statement, the RCMP said it cannot speak to the intelligence-sharing practices of other law enforcement agencies, but the commissioner stressed that the relationship continues.

“We value our relationship with our U.S. counterparts, as we work closely to respond to threats to national security and maintain situational awareness of emerging risks,” said Duheme in a statement.

“We maintain strong relationships with Canada’s security and intelligence community and work closely with domestic and international partners, including members of the Five Eyes community.”

Following international outcry, Basem Boshra, CBC’s senior director of journalistic standards and public trust, issued a clarification on Aug. 28 saying “direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism.”

However the damage seemed to have been done with the White House. Patel was very public in his anger, putting a statement out on X that “any agency in Canada that doesn’t publicly reject this bastardization of history, and an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in U.S. history will no longer have friend in this FBI.” 

According to the New York Times’s sources, Patel sought to punish Canada and FBI officials cancelled meetings with their Canadian counterparts — telling them they would be out of touch for some time. The news outlet also reported that some collaboration between the two agencies stopped around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, citing people with knowledge of the episode. 

The allegations would mark a new chapter in the already disintegrating Canada-U.S. relationship, this time with public safety ramifications.  

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s incessant jabs at his northern neighbour, including his 51st state rhetoric, security and intelligence officials in Canada have maintained that day-to-day operations continue largely unchanged.

Any substantial fallout with U.S. security agencies could be devastating for Canada. As a net importer of intelligence, Canada leans heavily on partnerships like the Fives Eyes — which includes the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — to pass on information.

The RCMP and FBI have a longstanding partnership and collaborate on a range of issues from the shared border to terrorism and cybersecurity. 

Canada grateful for deep co-operation with U.S: minister

A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the federal government “values its close and longstanding law enforcement and security partnerships with the United States.”

“We remain grateful for the service of Canadian and American law enforcement personnel and for the deep co-operation between Canadian and U.S. agencies,” said the spokesperson, Simon Lafortune.

“This collaboration is essential to keeping Canadians and Americans safe, and we will continue to engage with our American partners constructively and respectfully.” 

The FBI declined to comment. The White House did not respond to questions about the allegations in the New York Times’s story but spokesperson Lauren Bis called the CBC guidance “disgusting and disrespectful to all the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks and their families.”

“These terror attacks were pure acts of evil,” said Bis.