---
category: Foreign Government
location: Ottawa, Canada
start: 1920
summary: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is Canada's national police force, which
  became significantly involved in the investigation of the PROMIS Software Scandal.
tags:
- Organization
- Government
- Canada
- Intelligence
---

The [RCMP](/organizations/royal-canadian-mounted-police/) is [Canada](/places/canada/)'s national police force, which became significantly involved in the investigation of the [PROMIS Software Scandal](/events/promis-software-scandal/). In February 2000, [Sean McDade](/people/sean-mcdade/), an [RCMP](/organizations/royal-canadian-mounted-police/) national security investigator, secretly entered the [United States](/places/united-states/) to investigate evidence that the Canadian Government was using a modified version of the [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) computer software, which purportedly allowed the [U.S.](/places/united-states/) to eavesdrop on [Canadian](/places/canada/) intelligence secrets through a "back-door." His investigation was code-named Project Abbreviation, and his email handle, "simorp," was [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) spelled backward.[1]

The [RCMP](/organizations/royal-canadian-mounted-police/) probe, code-named Project Abbreviation, was authorized at the highest levels of the organization and was well-funded. The investigation was prompted by the discovery of an invoice for the purchase of [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) from Strategic Software Planning in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which contradicted earlier denials by [Canadian](/places/canada/) authorities regarding the Hamiltons' claims about the pirated software. [Sean McDade](/people/sean-mcdade/)'s investigation reportedly traced banking transactions that supported the claim that high-ranking Canadian officials might have unlawfully purchased the software from officials in the [Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/)-[Bush](/people/george-hw-bush/) administration.[1]

During his investigation, [Sean McDade](/people/sean-mcdade/) learned that a meeting had taken place in December 1999 at the Los Alamos facility in New Mexico, attended by intelligence heads from the [U.S.](/places/united-states/) ([CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)), [Britain](/places/united-kingdom/) ([British Intelligence](/organizations/british-intelligence/)), [Israel](/places/israel/) ([Mossad](/organizations/mossad/)), and [CSIS](/organizations/canadian-security-intelligence-service/). The discussion, labeled "Unique Elements," touched upon questions related to Y2K computer problems and a glitch in the British computer system. A source suggested that all four allied countries shared the same computer system, possibly [PROMIS](/programs/promis/), due to its mutual integration capabilities. Furthermore, [Sean McDade](/people/sean-mcdade/) was informed that the [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/) might have modified the [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) software to create a "two-way" backdoor, potentially granting [Israel](/places/israel/) access to top [U.S.](/places/united-states/) weapons secrets at Los Alamos and other installations.[1]

The [RCMP](/organizations/royal-canadian-mounted-police/) investigation, with assistance from Detective [Sue Todd](/people/sue-todd/) of Hercules, California, revealed that [U.S.](/places/united-states/) investigators who had previously probed the [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) affair faced significant obstruction from the [Justice Department](/organizations/department-of-justice/). Many were fired, suspended, or resigned when their inquiries into drugs and money laundering reached high-level connections. The text highlights that [RCMP](/organizations/royal-canadian-mounted-police/) investigators, among others, still feared punitive action for coming forward, even if they were no longer in the public sector.[1]

The [RCMP](/organizations/royal-canadian-mounted-police/)'s involvement in the [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) investigation also brought to light the use of [ECHELON](/programs/echelon/) technology. [Sean McDade](/people/sean-mcdade/) himself became a target of [ECHELON](/programs/echelon/) during his investigation in the [United States](/places/united-states/), forcing him to take extraordinary measures to communicate securely. He noted that the [NSA](/organizations/nsa/) was spying on [Canadian](/places/canada/) citizens while [Canada](/places/canada/) spied on [American](/places/united-states/) citizens, both utilizing [ECHELON](/programs/echelon/) and exchanging data.[1]

Despite the exposure of [Sean McDade](/people/sean-mcdade/)'s investigation in the *Toronto Star* in August 2000, he reportedly returned to police work in his hometown.[1]


[1] Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.