The federal government let an American spy agency conduct surveillance in Canada during the G8 and G20 summits in 2010, the CBC reports.

Citing secret documents released by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, CBC reported Wednesday evening that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct a six-day operation, turning the American embassy in Ottawa into a security command post to spy as dozens of delegates flocked to Canada during the global summits in June 2010.

The documents said the U.S. plans for the G20 in Toronto were “closely co-ordinated with the Canadian partner” — Communications Security Establishment Canada, or CSEC — but do not reveal the targets of the surveillance, according to CBC’s report.

A spokesperson for the prime minister declined to comment on the report.

“We do not comment on operational matters related to national security,” Jason MacDonald, Harper’s director of communications, told the Star in an email.

“Our security organizations have independent oversight mechanisms to ensure that they fulfil their mandate in accordance with the law.”

MacDonald’s comment was echoed by a spokesperson for Communications Security Establishment Canada, who said they do not comment on the “operations or capabilities of Canada or our allies.”

Lauri Sullivan said that the agency “does not target Canadians anywhere or any person in Canada through its foreign intelligence activities.

“CSEC cannot ask our international partners to act in a way that circumvents Canadian laws,” Sullivan said in an email.

She said that all of the agency’s activities are subject to review by the CSE Commissioner, “who for 16 years has reported that CSEC continues to act lawfully in the conduct of its activities.”

The documents released by Snowden don’t indicate what CSEC’s role was in spying on the G20 but the agency’s co-operation was vital to allowing access to telecommunications systems, CBC reported. The bulk of the document involves security details surrounding the protection of sites and leaders against potential terrorist threats.

Snowden, living in Russia on a one-year asylum while facing espionage charges in the U.S., has leaked a series of documents revealing U.S. spying activity and links to CSEC.

Recently, Snowden documents suggested Canada worked with the U.S. and Britain to spy on high-powered attendees at the G20 Summit in London in 2009.

Another leak last month showed CSEC had been spying on Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, a revelation that outraged the South American country.

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Canada’s CSEC is part of a five-member spy organization called “Five Eyes,” consisting of parallel agencies in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia and Britain. It’s responsible for gathering foreign intelligence “from the global information infrastructure” that’s of interest to Canada, according to its website.

With files from Bruce Campion-Smith, Star wire services

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