biography

(Fictionally) Stolen from the CSIS Files…

Sam Montcalm has hit the shelves in his first case with Dundurn Press. Nightshade officially published less than a week ago! (You guys might remember how we featured Tom’s true-to-life murder investigation as quasi-tribute to its release.) As Sam moves across the country from the Dundurn stage, wouldn’t it be great to get a closer look at who this detective is and what he’s all about?

Well, Sam Montcalm is a bit of a lonewolf. And he’s not liked too much by his investigative counterparts. Oh, and CSIS has a pseudo-file on him.

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Brief Biography of Sam Montcalm (from CSIS Files)

Samuel Tristram Montcalm. Private investigator, Ottawa. Residence 77 Buchan Street, Kitchissippi. Telephone 613-992-0751, email=smontcalm@webstar.ca. No cell phone.

The subject was born in Santa Barbara, California on October 15, 1959. Father: Charles-Louis Montcalm, born Neuville, P.Q., Canada, 1915, died Los Angeles, 1985. Mother: Celia Snowdon, born Guelph, Ontario, 1924, died Los Angeles, 1983. Montcalm’s brother, Theodore Roosevelt Montcalm, born Ottawa, 1950, died Vancouver, B.C.,1977, by suicide. Vietnam volunteer and deserter, drug addict.

Samuel Montcalm attended UCLA, B.A. in Humanities Studies, studied criminology at University of Ottawa. Settled in Ottawa in 1985, private investigator, mostly cheating spouse and divorce investigations, background checks, undercover investigations, missing persons, fraud and work place investigations, obtaining and verifying sensitive information, and miscellaneous tailored enquiries. Montcalm is reported to have ties with Point-Blanc, an Ottawa scandal magazine and zine, and seem to have done various (unspecified) jobs for them. Despite his background, the subject has limited Francophone connections.

Informants report possible connections between the subject and foreign investigators (FBI, in particular), with respect to information-generation regarding Canadian politicians and Rockcliffe “movers and shakers.” This may be erroneous, given the subject’s declared support of leftist political views and agendas. Links to communist-anarchist groups are so far unspecified but possible, though some reports conclude that Montcalm is a wild card whose ideological commitments vary with his moods. The latter thesis, if accurate, would make him unpredictable, and potentially dangerous. It is therefore essential that periodical surveillance be maintained. Since the subject’s emotional attachments seem random and promiscuous, although solely heterosexual, it is suggested that “honey trap” methods would constitute a useful adjunct, should closer observation and control be deemed necessary.

It should be noted that the subject is assisted at times by Jacob Leonard Smith, a musician and musical scholar, often employed as a piano technician, who rents space at the subject’s Buchan Street address. Smith is a former draft resister and fugitive, born in New York City, and now a Canadian citizen. Smith’s sentimental left-wing views are known to overlap in many instances with those of Montcalm.

Last updated, July 1, 2010—file under “Ottawa Private Investigators-Montcalm.” See files XBT-2001-2007 for detailed records of meetings, contacts, sources.

© 2010 Defining Canada.