Canada’s spy agency may have incited B.C. couple to commit terrorist act: lawyer

VANCOUVER—A British Columbia court has heard that a person allegedly linked to Canada’s spy agency helped radicalize a man who was eventually arrested for plotting to blow up the provincial legislature.

The information comes after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce ordered the release of a heavily redacted transcript from a closed-door hearing that took place last week in connection with the trial of John Nuttall and Amanda Korody.

The pair’s lawyers are applying for correspondence between the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and its alleged human source in order to better understand the role the spy agency played in the undercover police sting.

Lawyers for the Crown and CSIS opposed releasing the documents or opening the hearing to the public, arguing that sensitive information risked identifying the alleged source.

Nuttall and Korody were found guilty last June on terrorism charges but their convictions haven’t been entered while defence lawyers argue police entrapped the pair.

Nuttall’s lawyer, Marilyn Sandford, told the court that her client claimed the alleged CSIS operative encouraged him to engage in violent terrorist acts and played a significant role in his radicalization.