A former Russian undercover agent who lived under a false name in Toronto and spied for the Russian government is suing Canada's immigration department for refusing to allow her to return here as a landed immigrant.
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.
The Millers have filed a statement of claim seeking unspecified damages from Citizenship and Immigration Canada for negligent processing of their file, arguing that the eight-year wait has caused them irreparable harm and suffering.
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. Black 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."
Back in Moscow, she divorced and renounced the international world of espionage, and in December of 1996, married Dr. Miller. He applied to sponsor his wife as a member of the family class.
She swore in an affidavit that she would never spy again.
Ms. Miller claimed in a 2004 letter to then-public safety minister Anne McLellan that she was not only not "detrimental" to Canada's national interest, but that she was making a positive contribution, teaching Russian children about Canada and introducing them to the works of Alice Munro and Yan Martel. "I have dealt with the Canadian government in a co-operative, respectful and low-key manner, despite inquiries from the Canadian media and offers for a book/film," she said.
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.
Ms. Jackman argued in her appeal that the immigration officer failed to consider this relationship, Ms. Miller's employment as an English teacher and desire to live a peaceful life in Canada. "There is no indication she did anything detrimental to Canada," she said.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service sends intelligence officers abroad to collect political, economic, scientific, technological, and military information, according to notes in the Federal Court file. Sergio Karas, an immigration lawyer, said it is "ludicrous" for an applicant who misrepresented her identity to apply for residency and then to sue when the file is subject to delays.
"Security background screening for citizens of Russia and the former USSR is generally lengthy, due to concerns about security and criminality, and more so in a case where the applicant has already been deported from Canada," he said.