John Farrell (CSIS)

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John Farrell is a former CSIS agent.

Despite his past as a petty criminal in Toronto, Farrell had worked as a prison guard and as a Canada Post security officer prior to his work with the spy agency. He claims he spent his time at the post office spying on leaders of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers for CSIS, an allegation that later led the union to demand an inquiry.

In 1991 he claims to have become formally employed by CSIS. For eight years he allegedly helped run a program named Operation Vulva which intercepted parcels and mail addressed to suspected extremists, including Ernst Zundel. Critics suggest that he is largely fabricating his role in CSIS, and was actually no more than a paid informant working under agent Don Lunau.

After his employment was terminated by CSIS, Farrell sued the spy agency claiming that they owed him backwages, which led the agency to deny that he had ever been employed. He helped author Andrew Mitrovica's write the book Covert Entry: Spies, Lies and Crimes Inside Canada's Secret Service.