FBI temporarily paused cooperation with Canadian counterpart over CBC 9/11 references - report

FBI Director Kash Patel made the decision to pause cooperation after the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reminded its staff not to refer to the 9/11 attacks without expert attribution.

FBI Director Kash Patel temporarily halted some cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, its Canadian counterpart, following an announcement by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reminding journalists not to refer to the 9/11 attacks as “terrorism” without attribution to experts, the New York Times revealed in a report on Friday, citing multiple officials. 

The move, although it was short-lived and did not involve every element of cooperation between the organizations, risked disrupting operations and the FBI’s relationship with Canada’s national law enforcement agency, according to the NYT. 

The FBI works closely with the Canadian bureau on a wide range of issues, including terrorism and cybersecurity cases, the report added.

The move comes amid already tense relations between the US and Canada as US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continue to battle it out in a tariff war that has dragged on for nearly a year and a half.

US allies have long been concerned that the Trump administration would cut off intelligence or law enforcement sharing with Canada, according to the report, as the US President continues to double down on his verbal attacks against his neighboring counterparts.

CBC reverses stance following criticism

The CBC is the country’s public broadcaster and editorially independent from the Canadian government, according to the NYT. The broadcaster reversed its stance and issued updated guidance in August after facing widespread criticism, saying that the term “terrorism” could in fact be used without the need for attribution. 

Canadian Culture Minister Marc Miller said that CBC’s updated guidance brought a “welcome change to what was a piece of pedantic and foolish guidance that caused legitimate anger,” according to the report.

The country’s government officials have traditionally described the attack as terrorism in their communications, the NYT said, adding that 24 Canadians died in the attacks.

Many major news organizations have similar policies for breaking news events, but not for historically established terror attacks, it added.

Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, NYT’s report said that FBI officials canceled meetings with their Canadian counterparts during the pause.

An FBI spokesman and a White House spokeswoman did not respond to the NYT’s questions about whether the administration knew about the pause in cooperation.

The mounted police responded to the FBI’s decision, saying, “We value our relationship with our US counterparts, as we work closely to respond to threats to national security and maintain situational awareness of emerging risks.”

Patel threatens Canada

Patel threatened Canada in several social media posts in late August, according to the report, in which he highlighted CBC News’ guidance on how to describe the terror attacks ahead of the date’s anniversary.

The memo sent to the broadcaster’s staff members highlighted its policy of attributing the description of “terrorism” to an expert of authority, according the NYT.

“Any agency in Canada that doesn’t publicly reject this bastardization of history, and an insult to the souls lost during our largest terrorist attack in US history, will no longer have friends in this FBI… Not to mention our heroes that responded in the aftermath,” Patel wrote in a post on X/Twitter.

“WE WILL NEVER FORGET 9-11,” he added.

How long the pause in cooperation lasted is unclear, said the report, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. However, it appears to have ended around the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. According to one of the sources, the US had sought some sort of apology, although information as to whether one was issued remains unavailable.