U.S. court documents reveal that members of the Canadian armed forces and police were trained for two years by the international security company formerly known as Blackwater without the permission of the U.S. State Department.
News of the training -- which occurred between 2006 and 2008 -- was revealed after U.S. federal court records pertaining to a $7.5-million settlement in a criminal lawsuit against the company were unsealed in North Carolina. The company is now called Academi LLC.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed Wednesday that members of the RCMP and the military received training by the firm, but would not say when that training took place.
A statement from Toews’s office said: “The RCMP has, in the past, used this company to provide training for Emergency Response Teams. This company offered unique training that was not available elsewhere.”
