I wrote a note for this substack on July 25 on the arrest of William Majcher, a former Mountie who has been charged with foreign interference under the Security of Information Act.
Readers may interested in a recent column by Jessica Davis on her substack that provides some more intriguing side-notes on Majcher. Her substack is at:
https://substack.com/@insightintel
Incidentally, Ms. Davis, who is a former CSIS officer with an expertise in terrorism financing, not only runs her own private sector consulting firm, Insight Intelligence, but also currently serves as President of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS). For those of you unfamiliar with CASIS, which was established back in the early 1980s, please have a look at its website and consider joining. The organization has cycled through periods of strength and debility but currently hosts an annual event, a student essay prize and an occasional speakers series.
https://casis-acers.ca
As Jessica indicates we will have to wait for the slow unfolding of the court case to learn much more, but I was intrigued by her note about Majcher’s link to the now-deceased Robert David Steele. Majcher once appeared on Steele’s podcast.
I knew Steele once upon a time, before he descended into conspiracy theories and ultimately died of COVID-19 after refusing to be vaccinated.
He was a CIA officer who subsequently served in Marine Corps intelligence and was an early proponent of the value of open-source intelligence for the US intelligence community. I recall a conversation with him at a conference at the US Army War College where he enthusiastically suggested that Canada could provide leadership on OSINT for its allied partners. He thought it an intelligence mission perfectly suited to Canada. While he may have been right, it didn’t happen.
For a bit of insight into his OSINT proselytizing (and views on hackers), see this interview on PBS:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hackers/interviews/steele.html
I was sorry to hear of his embrace of conspiracy theories. Such pathways always seem so strange. Steele continued to call COVID a “hoax” even after his contracted it. A sad note of his views from what came to be his hospital death-bed can be found in this UK newspaper account.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/qanon-anti-vaxxer-dies-from-covid-b1911586.html
I prefer to remember Steel as an out-sized and ebullient personality who championed an idea before its time had come. Anyone interested in OSINT should be familiar with his book, On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (2000).
R.I.P.
A very insightful comment on a dedicated professional who had difficulty reaching his audience. Mavericks always have difficulty being taken seriously in buttoned down organizations - sometimes their method undermines their message. But I salute the organizations that gave Steele scope and voice in their inner debates regardless of their agreement or not with his views and insights. Tony Campbell
I said pretty much the same thing to Jessica last week, great minds meet!!
Regards,
Nicolas Bureau