Muhammad Amanullah
Date: September 19, 2026 The True Post (Web News) —
Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), says its relationships with US law enforcement and intelligence partners remain strong despite reports that FBI Director Kash Patel temporarily halted some cooperation with Canadian counterparts over a controversial CBC editorial memo concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the force continues to work closely with US counterparts on national security threats and emerging risks.
The comments came after The New York Times reported that Patel had temporarily halted some cooperation between the FBI and the RCMP following controversy over an internal CBC News memo about how journalists should describe the September 11 attacks. According to the report, FBI officials cancelled meetings with Canadian counterparts and indicated that they would be out of contact for a period of time. (New York Times)
The 9/11 Memo
The controversy began after an internal CBC memo was made public ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The guidance reflected CBC’s longstanding editorial approach of generally avoiding independently labelling specific acts as terrorism unless the description was attributed to an expert, authority or other source.
The memo attracted strong criticism in the United States, particularly from FBI Director Kash Patel and other US officials.
CBC subsequently changed its guidance on August 28, saying that journalists could directly describe the September 11 attacks as terrorism without requiring attribution. CBC’s senior director of journalistic standards, Basem Boshra, said the broadcaster had never denied that the attacks were acts of terrorism and that its reporting had consistently covered the nature and motivations of the attacks. (AP News)
Kash Patel’s Strong Response
Patel publicly criticised the CBC guidance on social media and warned that Canadian agencies that did not reject what he described as a distortion of history would no longer have a friend in the FBI.
His comments raised the issue beyond a dispute over the editorial policy of an independent Canadian broadcaster and brought the matter into the broader context of Canada-US security cooperation.
According to reports citing officials familiar with the situation, some FBI cooperation with the RCMP was subsequently paused. FBI officials reportedly cancelled meetings with Canadian counterparts, although the precise scope and duration of the interruption were not publicly established. (New York Times)
RCMP Takes a Cautious Position
The RCMP has declined to comment directly on the FBI’s intelligence-sharing practices.
However, Commissioner Mike Duheme stressed that the RCMP continues to value its relationship with American counterparts.
“We value our relationship with our U.S. counterparts,” the RCMP said, noting that the force works closely with them to respond to national security threats and maintain awareness of emerging risks. The RCMP also said it maintains strong relationships with Canada’s security and intelligence community and works with domestic and international partners, including members of the Five Eyes community. (Internationly)
The statement indicates that, despite the reported temporary disruption involving the FBI, broader security and intelligence relationships between Canada and its allies continue.
Importance of the Five Eyes Alliance
Five Eyes cooperation is particularly important to Canada’s national security framework.
The intelligence partnership includes Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The countries cooperate on intelligence and security matters, making information-sharing relationships an important part of efforts to address transnational threats.
Canada and the United States also have a long history of law-enforcement cooperation involving border security, terrorism, organised crime, cyber threats and other national security issues.
The reported FBI-RCMP dispute therefore attracted attention because any prolonged disruption could potentially affect established channels of cooperation. However, the RCMP has continued to emphasise the strength of its relationships with US and other international partners. (DOI)
Canadian Government’s Position
The Canadian government has also stressed the importance of its security relationship with the United States.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office has said Canada values its longstanding law-enforcement and security partnership with the United States.
The government’s position is that cooperation between Canadian and American agencies is important for protecting people in both countries and that Canada will continue engaging with US partners in a constructive and respectful manner.
White House and FBI Responses
The FBI declined to comment on reports concerning the temporary halt in cooperation.
The White House also did not directly address the specific claims reported about the FBI’s actions. However, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the CBC guidance was insulting to victims of the September 11 attacks and their families, while describing the attacks as acts of terrorism.
The CBC, meanwhile, independently changed its editorial guidance following the controversy. CBC said the change was made to eliminate confusion and clarify its approach to describing the September 11 attacks. (The Washington Post)
Cooperation Continues Despite the Dispute
The dispute has highlighted how closely connected media controversies can become to broader diplomatic and security relationships when they involve issues as sensitive as terrorism and national security.
The reported temporary pause in some FBI-RCMP cooperation occurred after Patel publicly criticised the CBC guidance, but available reporting indicates that it did not represent a complete breakdown in Canada-US security cooperation. Other US government intelligence-sharing relationships with Canada continued, while the RCMP maintained that its wider relationships with American and Five Eyes partners remain strong. (TheWrap)
For Canada, continued cooperation with the United States remains important because the two countries share a border and face a range of common security challenges.
The RCMP’s latest statement therefore points to an effort to maintain established law-enforcement and intelligence relationships despite the disagreement surrounding the CBC’s September 11 reporting guidance.
The episode also demonstrates the sensitivity of Canada-US security ties, where even a dispute involving an independent media organisation can create tensions between institutions responsible for national security and law enforcement.
