| YJCMTSU. Hat tip Walter Olson. |
Elena Miller, a 43-year-old ex-spy, was deported in 1996 after her cover was blown by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Her second husband, Toronto physician Peter Miller, has tried for eight years to sponsor his attractive wife with the mysterious past, only to be stonewalled by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Although their marriage was found to be legitimate, an immigration officer ruled in 2001 that Ms. Miller was inadmissible on security grounds because of her past employment with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, known as SVR. A Federal Court judge recently upheld the decision. "If one of our CSIS agents were to quit, would it be held against him forever?" asked Barbara Jackman, Ms. Miller's lawyer. "In security cases, unlike in criminal cases, you can never overcome your past. It is never forgiven," she said.
| That's right. That's why Dr. Mr. Miller ought to consider moving with his wife to another country. You know, like .. Russia. Switzerland's not a bad second choice. |
Dr. and Ms. Miller recently relocated to Switzerland, but the couple would like to return to Canada where Dr. Miller has two grown sons.
Ms. Miller came to Canada in the early 1990s with her first husband, also a Russian spy. In a scenario not unlike a plot from a John Le Carré novel, the pair established Canadian identities, taking the names of Canadian-born babies who had died at birth a quarter-century earlier: Ian Lambert and Laurie Brodie. She found a job at an insurance company in Toronto, while her husband worked at a Blacks photography plant.
CSIS trailed the pair and, based on the evidence they gathered, Ottawa issued a security certificate against them, saying their espionage activities made them a security risk.
The Russian spies, whose real names are Yelena Olshanskaya and Dimitriy Olshanskiy, were deported to Russia in June of 1996 -- but not before their marriage had disintegrated. Both had begun relationships with Canadians while working undercover. "Laurie Brodie" had met Dr. Miller, a British-born physician and Oxford graduate who worked in Canada's medical insurance industry, at a scotch-tasting party.
When news of the spy case became public both Dr. Miller and the girlfriend of "Ian Lambert," a fellow Blacks employee, were shocked to learn the true identities of their paramours. According to notes in Ms. Miller's voluminous immigration file, Dr. Miller was "shaken" about the news as to her double identity, but she talked to him about "her real self, the real Lena."
| "I'm not just another beautiful, skanky Russian spy, honest!" |
| How exactly does a Russian 'renounce' spying? Swear on a bust of Felix Dzerzhinsky? |
The Millers have maintained a long-distance marriage for a decade, with Dr. Miller visiting his wife four to six times a year. Their immigration file contains pages of letters, e-mails, phone calls and photographs depicting the couple's close relationship.
| Really does seem like perfect cover for a so-called reform 'spy', doesn't it? |
| Other than spy on them back in the day. |