Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
On Tuesday, 8 February 2022, the regional council of Halifax, the largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, voted to end polygraph screening of applicants for employment with the Halifax Regional Police as of 30 September 2022. See Zane Woodford’s reporting for the Halifax Examiner and Jen Taplin’s reporting for the Chronicle Herald. …
On Friday, 11 December 2020, Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA), which provides oversight for the country’s intelligence agencies, issued its annual report for 2019. Among other things, the report is highly critical of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s (CSIS’s) reliance on polygraphy to screen applicants and employees, noting that the Security Intelligence …
Kudos to Charles Momy, the former head of the RCMP polygraph unit who now serves as president of the Canadian Police Association for his public opposition to polygraph screening. Momy’s criticism comes in the wake of a decision by the Quebec City municipal police to implement pre-employment polygraph screening. Marianne White reports for Postmedia News …
The following Canadian Press report was published on GlobeandMail.com: Montreal — A polygraph expert testified Monday that he believes suspected sleeper agent Adil Charkaoui told the truth when he denied in a lie detector test having any links to terrorists. Mr. Charkaoui, who has been in detention since May, 2003, on a national security certificate, …
Linda Slobodian reports for the Calgary Herald: An investigation is underway to determine if candidates for Calgary Fire Department jobs are being asked — in mandatory polygraph tests — if they have ever had sex with cows or dogs, the city’s fire chief has confirmed. However, with the investigation barely underway, Wayne Morris has dismissed …
Ajay Bhardwaj reports for the Edmonton Sun. Cops and the City of Camrose are lauding a new lie-detector-type tool even though critics say it gives police the power to intimidate people accused of committing crimes. The computer voice-stress analyser (CVSA), which purports to pick up tremors in the voice when a person is lying, is …
Canada.com reports: VANCOUVER (CP) – Lie detector technology less costly than controversial polygraphs is catching on among smaller Canadian police forces, scaring some doctors who say it’s even less reliable. The computerized voice stress analyser (CVSA), which purports to pick up tremors in the voice when a person is lying, “isn’t more than 50 per …
The FBI’s nationwide dragnet for suspected terrorist infiltrators was based on an apparently bogus tip from accused Canadian forger Michael Hamdani. In a 3 January 2003 Washington Post article titled “Fake-ID Arrest Led to FBI Hunt,” staff writer John Mintz reported that U.S. and Canadian investigators had questioned Hamdani extensively using polygraph machines. U.S. President …
Dawn Walton reports for the Globe and Mail. This short article is cited here in full: CALGARY — Calgary firefighter recruits will be put through the paces their crime-fighting counterparts have been subjected to for years — polygraph tests. Polygraph machines, popularly known as lie detectors, are used when recruits are being interviewed by fire …
Peter Smith reports for the Calgary Sun. Excerpt: All potential firefighter recruits in Calgary in future must take a lie detector test to prove their credentials are genuine before they can join the department. Following a practice carried out by several fire departments in the U.S., Calgary will introduce the polygraph as the first specialized …