Canadian military intelligence operative accused of leaking secrets released from custody

A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative accused of passing sensitive information to a foreign entity has been released from custody with conditions by a military judge.

Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar faces eight charges under the National Defence Act, including communicating “special operational information” to a foreign entity. 

He appeared Monday before a military court in Gatineau, Que, five days after he was arrested and charged by military police in a case steeped in secrecy and national security implications. 

Robar, a member of the counter-intelligence branch and a 24-year veteran of the military, had been held at Garrison Petawawa since his arrest.

The Department of National Defence has declined to answer several specific questions regarding the case, including the identity of the foreign entity or organization allegedly involved.

Under the separate military justice system, Robar should have appeared before a military judge late last week. 

Detained twice this year

The arrest on Dec. 10 was actually the second time he was taken into custody. Military police detained Robar without charge for 24 hours on Oct. 24, but released him on conditions. 

His re-arrest was made public in a statement last week by the military’s provost marshal.

Military Judge Col. Nancy Isenor’s release order has both a classified and an unclassified version.

She ordered Robar, among other things, to surrender his passport and not to have contact — physically or electronically — with “the entity otherwise referred to as the Foreign Entity,” potential witnesses and a list of Canadian military members. He was also ordered to stay away from anyone working for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the country’s cyber spy service.

Robar was also told to stay away from people associated with a foreign intelligence service, not discuss his case with members of Canadian Forces Intelligence Command (CFINTCOM) and refrain from posting details of the allegations against him on social media.

Prior to his arrest, Robar was involved in a long-running internal battle where he was investigated by his unit and kept in the dark about the allegations against him.

CBC News was the first to report that he was the subject of a disciplinary investigation by his unit within CFINTCOM, starting in October 2024. 

That probe resulted in a reprimand, which was delivered last spring, according to a copy of the grievance Robar subsequently filed.

When reprimanded, Robar was told very little about the specific allegations against him, other than it involved “disobedience of a lawful command” and that he had “engaged in unauthorized work-related activities” that he knew or ought to have known were not approved by his chain of command.

The sanction letter cited alleged actions Robar took between May 11-20 and Sept. 9-21, 2024, but provided no details.