VANCOUVER — The watchdog for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will hold secret hearings in Vancouver this week into allegations that the nation’s spy agency has been spying illegally on law-abiding Canadian citizens, the executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says.

In a news release issued this morning, Josh Paterson said the BCCLA has been filing complaints against CSIS and the RCMP.

Paterson said the Security Intelligence Review Committee, the body responsible for CSIS oversight, is responding to the BCCLA’s allegations by holding secret hearings in Vancouver running from August 12 to the 14.

“Spying on peaceful citizens is an attack on democracy,” Paterson said in the release, adding that the Sierra Club of BC, the Dogwood Initiative and ForestEthics Advocacy were among groups spied on.

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