MONTREAL—Bruce Carson was the Prime Minister’s point man on Canada’s mission in Afghanistan and was provided sensitive information about the military mission despite his criminal record, the Star has learned.

Stephen Harper now says he never would have hired Carson had he known all the details of his criminal past.

But starting in 2007, Carson was a regular participant in daily telephone briefings on Afghanistan involving senior officials from departments such as foreign affairs, defence, RCMP, justice and corrections.

“It was evident to all the departments that he was the main player, Harper’s point man on the file,” said one source familiar with the briefings.

“He was given the most sensitive file to work on . . . it’s not like he was working in the mailroom.”

While Harper has a national security adviser, it was left to Carson, chief policy analyst, to stickhandle the Afghan file on a daily basis. His focus was usually on how the mission was being communicated here in Canada rather than on developments in the field, the source said.

“The PMO micromanaged the whole thing,” the source said. “They were always a bloody handful to deal with.”

In turn, Carson would have had a hand in briefing Harper on Afghanistan, which has been the country’s diplomatic and military focus.

“He was the point of contact . . . He was Harper’s guy,” the source said.

Carson took over on the daily briefings from Sandra Buckler, who served as Harper’s director of communications.

The revelations are sure to raise fresh questions about how a man with Carson’s past gained access to the top office in government and was allowed to participate in sensitive briefings about the military mission.

Harper has already admitted he hired Carson knowing about his conviction on two counts of fraud in the early 1980s but learned only this week that he had also been convicted of three counts of fraud and ordered to undergo a psychiatric treatment in 1990.

“Had I known these things, obviously I would not have hired him,” Harper said earlier this week.

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But news of the added criminal charges are raising red flags among those involved in the Afghanistan file, as they question how a man with such a past could have obtained the security clearances needed to participate in the calls — and gain access to their secrets.

Those on the call typically required a “top secret” clearance since the sensitive information being discussed involved not only Canada’s military but also those of other nations too.

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