Canada Day: The RCMP Secret Bomb plot

Operation — Project Souvenir

One year on, we still know remarkably little about the bizarre plot to detonate explosive devices in the midst of Victoria’s July 1 festivities, We won’t know much for a while either, as the couple accused of domestic terrorism won’t go on trial until Jan. 26, 2015.

It was July 2 that we were told of the drama that had unfolded while Victoria partied the day before: The RCMP had arrested a man and woman in Abbotsford after three pressure-cooker bombs packed with rusty nails — devices similar to those used in that April’s deadly Boston Marathon attack — were placed outside the legislature. Not to worry, we were assured, the tens of thousands of Canada Day celebrants who had flocked to the area were never in danger, as the bombs had been rendered inert.

It was the culmination of an operation — Project Souvenir — that began in February 2013 after the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team got a tip from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. On the 2nd of March 2013, John Nuttall was charged with “Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence”, and “Knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity”, Then on the 25th of June he was charged with “Possession of explosive substance” all these charges laid before the Canada Day Event. The photo to the right is a screen shot of Nuttall’s charges File Number 198990 has now been Deleted from the Online Court Services

The story got stranger as we learned about the accused bombers: Police described 38-year-old John Nuttall — a one-time member of the Victoria punk scene with a history of street crime — and girlfriend Amanda Korody, 30, as a “self-radicalized” pair inspired by al-Qaida ideology. Both had struggled with drug abuse.

The picture that emerged was of a pair of messed-up misfits — poor, unemployed, living in a Surrey basement suite. The defence has raised the question of entrapment, of whether police caught them in the commission of a crime or led them along. “I think the public’s rush to judgment will be slowed considerably once all the facts are out there,” Nuttall’s Victoria lawyer, Tom Morino, said last week.

During a July 2 news conference, RCMP Asst. Comm. Wayne Rideout was evasive when asked about the Project Souvenir’s techniques, including whether undercover officers acted as collaborators. He said the investigation was within the “guidelines and the rules of the Canadian Criminal Code.”

“The RCMP and its partner agencies used all of its available resources during this investigation,” Rideout said. “I’m not prepared to go into the details of how we were able to disrupt and assure public safety, but there are a vast number of resources and specialty groups that are available to us. We employed most of them.”

A judge has set a Lower Mainland jury trial for Jan. 26 to May 1, 2015.

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