When Cameron Ortis approached the head of a company that was being probed by law enforcement, he allegedly told him that he had access to some highly "valuable" information and mentioned a "business proposition."

"You do not know me. I have information that I am confident you will find very valuable," reads an email to Vincent Ramos, the Canadian CEO of Phantom Secure. The email was entered into evidence at the start of Ortis's trial.

"I assure you that this is a business proposition. Nothing more. It is not risk free, of course, but the risk to reward ratio will prove to be more than acceptable."

That email and others are part of an astonishing tranche of documents that make up the agreed statement of facts between the Crown and the defence in Ortis's criminal trial.

The Crown presented the emails to jury members Tuesday. They argue the messages show Ortis was communicating intelligence to police targets. The defence has not commented on the emails in open court.

The former RCMP intelligence official faces six charges, including four counts of violating the Security of Information Act. 

Ortis, 51, is accused of three counts of sharing special operational information "intentionally and without authority" and one count of attempting to share special operational information. He also faces two Criminal Code charges: breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer.

Ortis has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His defence told reporters they believe they can prove he had the "authority to do everything he did."

According to the evidence presented to court so far, the RCMP was gathering information about Phantom Secure as part of an operation dubbed Project Saturation. Court has heard the RCMP believed Phantom Secure was providing encrypted phones at a price. The FBI arrested Ramos in Las Vegas in 2018.

The Crown says that, using the email handle 'See All Things,' Ortis reached out to Ramos on Feb. 5, 2015 and told him he had information about a multi-agency investigation targeting Phantom Secure.

Some of the emails shown to the court also used the handle "variablewinds."

Crown prosecutor Judy Kliewer told the jury that in one of Ortis's emails, the accused told Ramos certain "files detail this effort, intel about your associates and individuals using your network internationally."

At the time, Ortis was the director of operations research within RCMP National Security. He was later promoted to director general of the National Intelligence Coordination Centre in 2016.

Kliewer said Ortis urged Ramos to set up a secure email account and to contact him for more information.

Ortis said he had info on associate

Ramos replied, asking for more details.

"I am in the business of acquiring hard-to-get information that individuals in unique high-risk businesses find valuable. I sell that information to them," said the response.

"Through the course of my normal discovery ops (some call this hacking, others cracking) I came across a number of documents that pertain to your current efforts."

Screen grab from body cam video of Vincent Ramos when he was arrested by Bellingham Police on March 7, 2018.

When Ramos failed to loop back, Kliewer said, Ortis sent another email on March 21 suggesting he had information about Kapil Judge, Phantom Secure's technical manager.

"I thought I would check in and touch base. Did Judge arrive on the 8th as planned?" says one of the emails tabled in court Wednesday.

"Let me guess, he met someone 'friendly' while being secondaried by CBSA at the airport?"

Accused was asking for $20K, Crown says

Ramos replied that he was "a bit intrigued for sure" and promised to set up a secure account.

Kliewer told the jury Ortis followed up in late April by sending partial Canadian and international police agency intelligence on Phantom Secure. In that same message, she said, Ortis told Ramos he was "leaving enough remaining to allow you to assess whether or not you would be interested in acquiring the unembargoed full documents."

The documents included reports from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), a criminal intelligence assessment by the RCMP and a document summarizing other western intelligence and law enforcement information on the company.

That apparently convinced Ramos to set up a secure email account on Tutanota, an encrypted email service.

The jury heard that Ortis then asked for $20,000 in exchange for the unredacted documents.

But Ramos still had questions about how to interpret the documents and the identity of the person sending them to him. "Who are you??" he wrote.

Kliewer said Ortis then spelled it out for Ramos.

"For example, the FINTRAC intelligence would help you and your folks to explain transactions in advance. It will also allow you to avoid making the same mistakes. You will be able to see which transactions have 'blinked' on their radars and, more importantly, which have not," says an email presented to the court.

Ramos's arrest alerted RCMP to Ortis

Kliewer  said Ortis also told Ramos that police knew Phantom Secure's "most sensitive communication components were transiting through Canada, Panama, Japan and Hong Kong."

She told the jury that Ortis told Ramos law enforcement and intelligence agencies were co-operating to bring down Phantom Secure to get to his users and clients, including an unnamed drug cartel and Altaf Khanani, the Dubai-based head of an international money laundering network.

• Ex-RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking had 'authority to do everything he did': defence

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

Ramos is serving a nine-year prison sentence in the U.S. for racketeering conspiracy. His arrest kicked off the investigation into Ortis, leading up to the RCMP official's arrest in 2019.

The jury heard Wednesday from former RCMP staff sergeant Guy Belley, who was called in to review the contents of Ramos's computer in the U.S.

He said he was "totally shocked" to discover someone had sent him sensitive intelligence documents.

The hunt to find the leaker 

When the RCMP went searching for who could have sent those reports, the trail took them close to home.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Mounties determined that Ortis used the RCMP National Crime Data Bank in March 2015 and accessed an RCMP report outlining a plan to have an undercover police officer approach Judge at the Vancouver Airport.

Investigators also determined that, within a 15-minute window, Ortis queried the crime database for six names, including "Vincent Ramos," "Farzam," "Mehdizadeh," "Aria," "Phantom"and "Gemayel."

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

A manifesto titled "A White Awakening" that was written by Nathaniel Veltman, who's accused of killing a Muslim family in London, Ont., on June 6, 2021, outlines his hatred of Islam and opposition to multiculturalism and mass immigration.

The jury at the accused's murder-terror trial in Ontario Superior Court in Windsor heard excerpts from the multi-page document on Wednesday afternoon. The excerpts were read into the record by Crown prosecutor Sarah Shaikh. 

"Below are my political views for whoever is interested," the document begins, and goes on to say "multiculturalism doesn't work" because "different cultures have different interests." 

The manifesto was created on May 4, 2021, the jury heard, as a document called idk.txt and was later renamed awhiteawakening.txt. It was opened, edited and added to several times, court was told.

The document was among contents found on the accused's laptop, Windsor police Sgt. Liyu Guan, a digital forensic investigator, has testified. Guan analyzed the contents of the laptop, the accused's cellphone, two USB thumb drives and an external hard drive.

• Jurors learn what a forensic examiner found in laptop of accused killer of a London, Ont., Muslim family

Veltman is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, as well as related terror offences. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege he was motivated by far-right ideology to conduct the killings.

Five members of the Afzaal family were walking in northwest London when they were struck by the accused's truck, a fact that is not being disputed by the defence. 

Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents Madiha Salman, 44, and Salman Afzaal, 46, and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. A nine-year-old boy survived.

Veltman was arrested minutes after the attack and the jury has heard he told a 911 dispatcher, "I did it. I killed those people," prior to being arrested. 

Judge gives jurors direction

The accused also wrote in the manifesto: "I am a white nationalist. White nationalist is simply wanting to preserve European existence, nothing more, nothing less." 

The document calls out "globalist companies and corporatists" as well as "cancel culture," and urges the building of a society where "all white people have a sense of belonging, from the lowest blue-collar worker to the highest professional and members of government." 

It says white people are "facing genocide," "complete replacement" and crimes committed by Muslims, and argues for a "collective resistance to the anti-white hatred."

Veltman listens to testimony on Sept. 28 during his murder and terrorism trial.

The document includes the ending, "Europa Arises!" That's similar to the ending of another manifesto, which the jury heard about on Wednesday, that was written by a mass shooter in New Zealand in 2019 and wrapped with, "Europa Rises!" 

Justice Renee Pomerance reminded the jury that views expressed in "A White Awakening" cannot be used to convict the accused.

"I expect that you will find the views expressed in this document to be offensive," she said. "I remind you that you must not find the accused guilty merely because you find his viewpoints disturbing.... You must not find the accused guilty because you wish to punish him for those views or because you want to take a stand against racism." 

Instead, the jury must "carefully and dispassionately" evaluate the evidence without emotion, bias, sympathy or prejudice," Pomerance said. 

Other manifestos found on thumb drive

Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard about other items found on the accused's electronics. 

About four months before he struck the Afzaals with the pickup truck, he downloaded a video of a mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the manifesto of the man responsible, Brenton Tarrant, that's titled "A Great Replacement." 

The 74-page manifesto and the video of the mass shootings at two mosques where 51 people died were found on the accused's thumb drive, downloaded on Feb. 15, 2021. 

Windsor police Sgt. Liyu Guan, a digital forensic investigator, testified Tuesday about the electronics found in Veltman's apartment. 

According to data taken from the drive by forensic investigators, the accused watched the shooting video at least 17 times and opened the Tarrant manifesto at least 12 times. 

In mid-April, just before 4 a.m., the accused also downloaded the manifesto of Anders Breivik, a convicted terrorist who detonated a car bomb and then committed a mass shooting at a summer camp, ultimately killing 77 in Norway in 2011.

Later Wednesday, the defence did a quick cross-examination of Guan before ending for the day. 

The trial, which is into its fourth week of proceedings, continues Thursday and is expected to last eight weeks.

A family member of the couple fatally attacked by a grizzly bear during a backcountry camping trip in Banff National Park said the two were long-time partners who loved each other and the outdoors. 

Speaking on behalf of the victims' families, Colin Inglis identified his nephew Doug Inglis, 62, and Jenny Gusse, 62, as the two backcountry campers killed deep in Banff National Park Friday. Their dog was also killed in the attack. 

Inglis said the two lived in Lethbridge, Alta., and they had been together since university. He said they were on day five of a week-long trip, and would go out at least twice a year — often in the spring and fall. 

"They are a couple that loved each other and loved the outdoors. And they were highly, highly experienced in being out back, whether it be serious treks or canoeing, whitewater canoeing in the North country," he said.

Inglis said Doug worked as a lab scientist, and Gusse was the lead technician at the same workplace. 

Inglis said the two provided daily updates from their trip to him from their Garmin inReach — a GPS often used by backcountry campers and hikers which allows texting and other messages from remote locations. 

He said he received a message that day that they hadn't gotten to the site they had intended, but that they were fine and setting up camp. 

"They were probably making dinner and they were letting us know that they were OK," Inglis said. 

But later that evening, he said, he received an SOS from the Garmin that there had been a bear attack. 

"The message said, 'Bear attack bad,'" Inglis said. 

Colin Inglis said his nephew and partner worked together in Lethbridge.

Parks Canada also received an alert from a GPS device in the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch at about 8 p.m. on Friday indicating a bear attack. 

"That night was a start, obviously, of what's continuing to be a grieving process. You have that notification, you know that something bad is happening. You don't have a lot of information," Inglis said. 

Inglis said the couple were highly experienced in the backcountry with an extensive set of equipment, and the attack was a devastating case of the "wrong place at the wrong time." 

But he's remembering the couple for what they loved doing. 

"I was hiking in Waterton with Doug in June and we were looking forward to many more adventures. As were lots of his friends. One of his friends told me one of the things they were looking forward to was taking their son out with Doug because he was so knowledgeable," Inglis said. 

The Banff National Park entrance is shown in Banff, Alta., in March 2020. Two backcountry campers were killed in a remote part of the park last week.

"And Jenny … she was the botanist. She could identify all these wonderful plants that were out there, this berry or this flower. And so that's the kind of love they had for the environment that they were out in." 

Parks Canada says bear had lower than normal body fat 

Parks Canada said the bear that killed Inglis and Gusse was not previously known to them and had lower than normal body fat for this time of year. 

In a media release issued Tuesday, Parks Canada said it conducted a necropsy on the bear, and found it to be a non-lactating older female estimated to be over 25 years old. 

Parks Canada said the bear was deemed to be in fair body condition, but her teeth were in poor condition.  

The attack occurred in the wilderness to the west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Banff National Park. 

"DNA samples from the bear have been sent to the lab confirm that it was the animal responsible for the attack. Updated results from these studies will only be provided if they differ from the information shared to date," the media release said. 

The bear was shot and killed hours after the emergency response call was received, when Parks Canada staff arrived at the scene and the bear charged the response team.

Parks Canada said two cans of bear spray were found at the scene, and the couple's food had been hung appropriately. 

"The individuals were on a backcountry hiking and camping trip and had the appropriate permits to do so. The individuals were also travelling with their dog," Parks Canada said. 

At the time of the incident, there was no active bear warning or area closure in place. The area remains closed to the public. 

"Bear attacks are rare occurrences. Fatal bear attacks are even less frequent. Over the last 10 years, there have been three recorded non-fatal, contact encounters with grizzly bears in Banff National Park. These incidents were the result of surprise encounters. This incident is the first grizzly bear-caused fatality recorded in Banff National Park in decades," Parks Canada said.

Metrolinx, the government agency that operates GO Transit train and bus service in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, said all of its rail corridors were down, but it was slowly able to resume service on some lines.

Around 4:30 p.m. ET, GO Transit said it was able to run limited service from Union Station, but urged passengers to find other ways to get to their destinations or delay trips until later Tuesday night. 

Some 190,000 passengers use daily GO trains and buses, which connect Toronto's downtown core to Hamilton, Kitchener, Ont., and communities in the regions of Halton, Peel, York and Durham.

The outage left hundreds of frustrated home-bound commuters stuck at Union Station.

Uber caps surge pricing

"This is just crazy, whatever it is, they [GO] need to do better," said David Miller, a coffee shop worker who saw three trains he planned to take being cancelled.

The sudden demand for taxis tripled fares on ride-share service Uber, according to several people who tried to book rides.

An Uber spokesperson said prices temporarily increase when there are more ride requests than drivers.

"In response to this afternoon's GO transit situation, Uber capped surge pricing," spokesperson Keerthana Rang said in an email.

GO Transit said it would prioritize trying to get people home from Union Station, which was "very busy."

Standing before a backdrop that declared Quebec's commitment to a clean economy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault outlined the details of what they both described as a "historic" project.

The numbers are eye popping. A new manufacturing facility to be built by Northvolt, a Swedish battery giant, will occupy 170 hectares — an area the size of more than 300 football fields — on Montreal's South Shore, in a parcel of land spanning two communities.

Eventually, it is projected to have an annual battery cell manufacturing capacity of up to 60 gigawatt-hours (GWh), which is enough to power roughly one million electric vehicles a year.

This first phase, set to be complete by the end of 2026, will also include facilities to produce cathode active materials (a component of the batteries used in electric vehicles) and recycle batteries.

The government says the project will create as many as 3,000 jobs.

It comes at a high cost: The federal and provincial governments are putting a combined $2.7 billion in taxpayer money toward the project.

There will also be government production incentives totalling up to $4.6 billion — one-third of which will come from Quebec — as long as similar incentives remain in place in the U.S.

'We paid a big price'

The deal is the latest in a series of announcements supporting the burgeoning electric vehicle industry in Canada.

Such projects have faced questions, given the amount of public money involved, but experts say public financing is crucial to compete against cut-throat international competition. 

Last month, Ottawa and Quebec announced an investment of more than $640 million for a new Ford EV plant in Bécancour, Que.

The federal government has also committed billions in Ontario to save the Stellantis-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor and subsidize the Volkswagen battery plant in St. Thomas.

It will take 20 years for the federal and Ontario governments to break even on the pledge to give $28 billion in production subsidies for those two plants, the Parliamentary Budget Officer concluded.

The auto industry has a long history of being propped up by the government, said Greig Mordue, the chair of advanced manufacturing policy at McMaster University's school of engineering, and a former Toyota executive.

"We'll see where this shakes out, but we paid a big price," Mordue said of this week's Quebec announcement.

"Our industrial policy now consists of one tool and that is a chequebook, and that's where we are today."

Levelling the playing field

Trudeau and Legault pushed back on that idea. During Thursday's news conference, Legault likened the investment to the billions spent on hydro-electric dams in northern Quebec 50 years ago under premier Robert Bourrassa.

People called Bourrassa crazy, too, he said.

"For the next 50 years, what's going to be important is the green economy," said Legault.

"So we're building on what Bourassa and company did in Quebec."

Paolo Cerruti, the CEO and co-founder of Northvolt, said the company was drawn to the cheap, clean hydro power on offer and the raw materials that could soon be available. A lithium mine is ramping up production in La Corne, Que., 550 kilometres north of Montreal.

The financial incentives played a big role, too.

"Canada put itself on a level playing field with what the United States has been doing," he said.

The Inflation Reduction Act, viewed as the most ambitious climate action bill in U.S. history, was also an international "game changer," spurring competition between countries to be part of the growing green economy, said Meena Bibra, a senior policy analyst at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based at Simon Fraser University.

"We're at a point where we either remain competitive in this race to electrification or we get left behind," she said. "The rest of the world, the EU and the U.S. and other economies like China, are moving forward with strong industrial policy on electric vehicles."