Documents about Canadian Forces propaganda program have disappeared


“We do not currently have access to these documents.”

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Documents related to a controversial military propaganda program designed to influence and change the behaviour of the Canadian public have disappeared.

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The Canadian Forces spent $1.2 million on behaviour modification training used by the parent firm of Cambridge Analytica, the company that was the centre of a scandal in which personal data of Facebook users was provided to U.S. President Donald Trump’s political campaign.

At the time, the Canadian Forces justified the cost in 2019 and 2020 to train 40 military and civilian public-affairs staff by pointing out that the fee also covered the purchase of the rights to the courseware, production of various reports and a test scenario of the behaviour modification techniques.

But National Defence now admits the detailed course curriculum, progress reports and a live case study conducted by Canadian Forces personnel using the behaviour modification techniques can’t be found. “We do not currently have access to these documents,” spokesperson Dan Le Bouthillier confirmed.

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Details about the two contracts to a company called Emic Consulting were revealed in October 2020 in a report by Emma Briant, a Fellow at Bard College in the United States and a specialist in researching military propaganda.

Briant noted the training the Canadian military staff received was a direct descendent of SCL Group’s “behavioural dynamics methodology,” which promises to help military clients analyze and profile groups to find the best strategy to effectively influence a target audience’s behaviour.

SCL, a strategic communications firm, had been linked to propaganda campaigns used by various militaries, having drawn on psychological and social science research to distill techniques aimed at manipulating group behaviour. Its subsidiary, Cambridge Analytica, was at the centre of a scandal where personal data of more than 30 million Facebook users was obtained and later provided to Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for their 2016 political campaigns.

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The contract to Emic came at a time when the Canadian Forces was ramping up its skills in “influence operations,” propaganda and data mining for campaigns that could be directed at either overseas populations or Canadians.

This newspaper produced a series of reports detailing how information was culled by the Canadian Forces from social-media accounts of members of the public in Ontario and data was compiled on peaceful Black Lives Matter gatherings. Military commanders also proceeded with a plan to use propaganda techniques employed during the Afghanistan war, claiming that was needed to head off civil disobedience by Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, there was a September 2020 incident where military personnel forged a letter from the Nova Scotia government warning about wolves on the loose in a particular region. The letter, part of a military test of propaganda techniques, was inadvertently distributed to residents, prompting panicked calls to Nova Scotia officials who were unaware the Canadian Army was behind the deception.

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A series of internal investigations in 2021 concluded that military commanders violated federal rules and acted without authority when they ordered intelligence teams to collect information on the public and to use propaganda techniques against Canadians. “Errors conducted during domestic operations and training, and sometimes insular mindsets at various echelons, have eroded public confidence in the institution,” noted a June 9, 2021, document signed by then acting Chief of the Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre and then Deputy Minister Jody Thomas.

Eyre, later promoted to full-time defence chief, was head of the army when its members launched the wolves propaganda initiative.

The Emic contract was part of a shift at National Defence headquarters to embrace “the weaponization of public affairs.” The department noted in 2020 the Emic training would help military public affairs staff “better identify and understand key audiences” so they could create communications campaigns that “are more customized and beneficial.” Staff were also taught strategic campaign planning and “audience research,” according to National Defence.

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Le Bouthillier said the department contacted Emic officials to see if the firm had some of the records, but it had received no reply.

At least two complaints have been filed about issues relating to the Emic contract.

In April 2021, a Canadian Forces members filed documents with the department’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Review Services raising eight concerns related to the contract, including whether value for money was received. The department’s Assistant Deputy Minister for Review Services looked into the matter, but did not launch an investigation, National Defence confirmed.

The Information Commissioner of Canada is also investigating. It was launched after National Defence responded to an access to information request from the Canada Files website requesting the curriculum, progress reports and the live case study. The Canada Files, which describes itself as a socialist platform conducting investigations and analysis into Canada’s foreign policy and the military-industrial complex, was informed no records could be found. The Canada Files submitted a complaint to Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard and the investigation started in 2022.

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Emic’s director, Gaby van den Berg, did not respond to a request for comment.

But she had previously noted to this newspaper that her company used science-based techniques to help NATO militaries and promotes ethical behaviour in its courses. Emic has no relationship with SCL and she has no professional interest or experience in election campaigning, Van den Berg added.

“As a company. we do not teach anything related to complex data analytics or ‘big data’; anything to do with the use of social media tools to ‘target’ communications campaigns (micro-targetting); nor anything that endorses or supports the use of deceptive or untrue communications,” Van den Berg stated.

Van den Berg said a military officer conducted ethics training during the Canadian course and her firm also had an ethics component to its training. “Ultimately — as with all knowledge, skills or equipment —  the ethics of how something is employed lies in the hands of the user, or in this case the DND,” she added.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, subscribe: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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