Hamilton man, Ken Stone, is crowdfunding his fight with CSIS

A Hamilton man has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help him fight the federal government security agency after agents visited him at his home and questioned him about his views on Iran.

Ken Stone is in the midst of a citizen review panel hearing after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) visited him at home on Jan. 30, 2013. The visit came after he attended a human rights conference in Iran in 2011 and wrote an opinion piece in the Hamilton Spectator called “Harper is wrong in demonizing Iran.” 

• Read More: Hamilton man to get hearing with CSIS on 'intimidation' case

• Read More: After visit from CSIS, Hamilton man criticizes 'intimidation'

Stone, a local anti-war activist, said he was "truly unsettled and frightened by the visit." He launched a complaint with the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), a board of political appointees that examines CSIS’s operations. A closed-door hearing is scheduled for March 25 to 27.

Stone hopes to raise $1,000 to help him pay his lawyer and visit Ottawa this month for the hearing.

Ottawa lawyer Bijon Roy is representing Stone at the review panel for free, but Stone has to pay for his out-of-pocket expenses. 

“As a senior on a partial teaching pension, I am asking for contributions … to cover my lawyer’s disbursements and my stay in Ottawa," Stone said in his pitch.

SIRC doesn't comment on individual cases, and a representative would not even confirm to CBC Hamilton that a hearing was taking place.

But according to SIRC’s 2013/2014 annual report, the organization carried over 24 complaints from the previous year while adding nine new complaints. Thirteen of those cases were closed.