VANCOUVER - Civil liberties activists in B.C. have filed complaints against Canada's spy agency and the RCMP for allegedly snooping on opponents of the Northern Gateway pipeline.
Josh Paterson with the BC Civil Liberties Association alleges the spying activities include illegal searches of private information, and he says some of the details were shared with oil and energy companies and the National Energy Board.
Paterson says it's illegal for police and spy agencies to gather information on the activist groups, as none of them pose any threat to public safety or energy board hearings.
ForestEthics Advocacy is one of the groups that alleges it was spied on, and campaign director Ben West says speaking out about environmental issues is part of the democratic process.
The allegations stem from an access to information request filed by online publication the Vancouver Observer last November.
Paterson says the documents suggest Mounties mostly gathered information through open sources such as websites, but it's unclear what CSIS's involvement was.
