RCMP says relationships with allies 'strong' after report FBI stopped co-operation following CBC 9/11 memo

New York Times reported on a short-lived attempt to punish the Mounties Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Sep 18, 2026 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago Play article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers watch cadet badge presentations in 2017. The head of the federal police force said it maintains 'strong relationships' with allies. (Valerie Zink/Reuters) The head of the RCMP says the national law enforcement agency maintains "strong relationships" with its allies, seemingly downplaying reports that FBI Director Kash Patel sought to punish Canada for a CBC memo regarding how to describe 9/11. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme was responding to a report from the New York Times on Friday alleging Patel temporarily halted some co-operation with the Mounties in retaliation to a leaked CBC internal memo instructing reporters to not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks ahead of the 25th anniversary. CBC has a longstanding policy to generally avoid labelling specific acts as terrorism without attribution. In a statement, the RCMP said it cannot speak to the intelligence-sharing practices of other law enforcement agencies, but the commissioner stressed that the relationship continues. "We value our relationship with our U. Patel was very public in his anger, putting a statement out on X that "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 U. S. history will no longer have friend in this FBI."  According to the New York Times's sources, Patel sought to punish Canada and FBI officials cancelled meetings with their Canadian counterparts — telling them they would be out of touch for some time. The news outlet also reported that some collaboration between the two agencies stopped around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, citing people with knowledge of the episode.  The allegations would mark a new chapter in the already disintegrating Canada-U. S. relationship, this time with public safety ramifications.   Republican Party revokes CBC/Radio-Canada media accreditation for upcoming midterm convention The FBI’s controversial Kash Patel Despite U. President Donald Trump's incessant jabs at his northern neighbour, including his 51st state rhetoric, security and intelligence officials in Canada have maintained that day-to-day operations continue largely unchanged. Any substantial fallout with U. S. security agencies could be devastating for Canada.