RCMP official accused of breaching Canada's secrecy law released on bail

After three years behind bars awaiting trial, Cameron Ortis, the RCMP official accused of breaching Canada's secrecy law, has been released on bail.

Justice Robert Maranger presided over the bail review and delivered hisdecision in Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday.

The reasons behind his decision andthe evidence and testimony heard in court during the review hearing are allcovered by a publication ban.

Ortis, who served as director general of the RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre, is charged with violating the Security of Information Act. He is accused of trying to share sensitive information with a foreign entity or terrorist organization and alsohas been chargedwith sharing operational information in 2015.

Ortis was briefly released on bail and ordered to live with his parents in Abbotsford, B.C., in October 2020, before his bail was revoked. He's been in custody ever since.

Ortis is scheduled to go to trial in October 2023.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki has said that, by virtue of his position, Ortis had access to intelligence gathered by both Canadian authorities and foreign allies.