Career
He "resigned in disgrace" after it was revealed that Center for Strategic and International Studies had filed an "inaccurate and misleading" affidavit to acquire a warrant for a wiretap. Born in Ottawa, he received a law degree from the University of Ottawa. Finn worked as a criminal lawyer and assistant Crown prosecutor before serving as assistant secretary to the federal cabinet for security and intelligence matters during the 1970s.
Finn was Director when 156 wiretaps related to the Air India bombing were erased.
Justice Ian Josephson described the erasures as "unacceptable negligence". Of the 210 related wiretaps that were recorded by Center for Strategic and International Studies , 156 were erased.
These tapes continued to be erased according to Center for Strategic and International Studies policy even after the alleged terrorists had become the primary suspects in the bombing. Center for Strategic and International Studies claims the wiretaps contained no relevant information.
A memo from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) disputes this, stating that "There is a strong likelihood that had Center for Strategic and International Studies retained the tapes between March and August 1985, that a successful prosecution of at least some of the principals in both bombings could have been undertaken."
Finn resigned as Director of Center for Strategic and International Studies in 1987, accepting responsibility for the court-filing of an error-ridden and unsubstantiated affidavit in support of a wiretap in relation to the attempted murder of Malkiat Singh Sidhu.
After his resignation, he returned to private practice.
