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Canadian PM concerned about alleged spying on Brazil's mining sector

08 October 2013 22:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday he was "very concerned" about allegations that one of Canada's most secretive spy agencies had spied on Brazilian mining companies and on its largest energy company, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Harper, who is in Bali, Indonesia for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, told reporters that "Canadian officials are reaching out very pro-actively" to their counterparts in Brazil.

Harper said his government would conduct "appropriate follow-up " regarding the charges, but refused to elaborate.

"I cannot comment on national security," he said, adding the Communications Security Establishment Canada,or CSEC, is under surveillance and audits by a commissioner to make sure it is operating within Canadian law.

The dispute between Canada and Brazil started with documents given to Brazil's leading television network, Globo, by Edward Snowden, who quit his job as a contractor for National Security Agency of the United States.

The Globo said on Monday that CSEC, using a software program called Olympia, targeted the metadata of phone calls and emails to and from the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy in an effort to access industrial information.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff tweeted Monday that her country's Foreign Affairs Department would demand an explanation from Canada regarding the allegations, reports said.

"The United States and its allies must immediately stop their spying activity once and for all," she tweeted. "This is unacceptable between countries that are supposed to be partners. We repudiate this cyber-warfare."

Brazil's Foreign Affairs Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado summoned Jamal Khokhar, Canada's ambassador to Brasilia, on Monday to "transmit the indignation of the Brazilian government and demand explanations."

At a news conference on Monday, Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson refused to comment on foreign intelligence, but said he is confident that Canada's relationship with Brazil will remain strong.

According to the website of Canada' Department of Foreign Affairs, Brazil is currently Canada's 11th largest trading partner and Canada's No. 7 source of foreign direct investment.

The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading daily newspaper, said on Tuesday in its editorial that Canadian citizens are entitled to a clear, principled statement of the views of the CSEC and the Canadian government as a whole on what kinds of economic intelligence they believe themselves to be justified in collecting.