Comment: "Do you want my opinion on that? Do you really want it? I’ll give it to you. If Edward Snowden had worked for CSIS, and did what he did, he should be shot."

That wasn't an off-the-cuff remark. Mr. Doucet paused to think about what he was going to say, and then said what he really felt. He was well aware too that he wasn't speaking to a closed room of intelligence officers, but to young Canadians in a public setting. One hears more temperate remarks coming from US officials.

Whether or not Mr. Doucet would order or condone the murder of a whistleblower, his view is deeply troubling. As is his naivety in stating that a whistleblower should report malfeasance to his agency first. Edward Snowden knew that his entire agency, from the top down, was involved in unconstitutional surveillance activities. And that they'd been authorized to violate the constitution by their political masters. Taking his complaint up the chain of command would've been useless.