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A spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay told Postmedia News Tuesday night that allied nations have no doubts regarding Canadian intelligence and defence.

“I can’t speculate on hearsay,” Jay Paxton said in an email to Postmedia News. “The minister has been clear that our allies remain fully confident of Canadian defence activities. That point was reiterated by the visit of Minister MacKay’s American and Mexican counterparts (Tuesday).”

The Wall Street Journal reported, again citing sources familiar with the matter, that the breach centred around a specific alliance between the militaries of Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Delisle, 40, was arrested in Halifax in January and became the first person charged under the Security of Information Act, which replaced the former Official Secrets Act in 2001.

He’s facing charges of breach of trust, communication of safeguarded information and attempting to communicate safeguarded information. The alleged crimes are suspected to have taken place over a five-year period beginning in 2007.

After some delay, Delisle’s bail hearing is now scheduled for April 13.

If convicted, the junior naval intelligence officer faces life in prison.

Delisle was employed at HMCS Trinity, an intelligence facility at the naval dockyard in Halifax that tracks vessels entering and exiting Canadian waters via satellites, drones and underwater devices.

The base is believed to specialize in sub-sea surveillance and regularly feeds its findings to the U.S. Navy and NATO. In addition to having access to communications codes, an employee of the facility might have been able to tell a foreign power the locations of ocean sensors used in monitoring ship movements.

Postmedia News