Government asks court to exclude evidence in B.C. trial over national security risk

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VANCOUVER - The federal government has made an application to exclude some evidence over national security risks at the trial of Iain Hunt, whose wife was reported missing in 2021 from their home in Port Moody, B.C. 

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VANCOUVER – The federal government has made an application to exclude some evidence over national security risks at the trial of Iain Hunt, whose wife was reported missing in 2021 from their home in Port Moody, B.C. 

The Attorney General of Canada says in a Federal Court application that it wants to prevent the disclosure of information during the trial, claiming it would be “injurious” to national security. 

The burned remains of Trina Hunt were found near Hope, B.C., in March of 2021 and her husband was later charged with indignity to human remains. 

Silverhope Creek runs between Silvertip Mountain and Thompson Peak near Hope, B.C., on Friday, May 7, 2021. Police said a search for a missing person has turned into a homicide investigation after human remains found in the area were identified. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a statement that human remains found March 29 are those of Trina Hunt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Silverhope Creek runs between Silvertip Mountain and Thompson Peak near Hope, B.C., on Friday, May 7, 2021. Police said a search for a missing person has turned into a homicide investigation after human remains found in the area were identified. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a statement that human remains found March 29 are those of Trina Hunt. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

While the court application doesn’t reveal the nature of the information at issue, it says the federal government was notified last November that the sensitive information could be disclosed at Hunt’s criminal trial. 

Police said a few months after Trina Hunt had disappeared that their missing-person investigation turned into a homicide case when her remains were found. 

Her family had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to charges before Iain Hunt was implicated.

The charges against Hunt were announced in February 2025 and homicide investigators said at the time that such an allegation occurs when a person neglects to perform their legal duty to bury a dead human body or if they interfere “in an improper, indecent or undignified way with a dead human body or human remains.”

The application in Federal Court is known as a “designated proceeding,” and falls under the court’s jurisdiction in matters of national security. 

The court’s website says applications made under a section of the Canada Evidence Act can seek to prevent disclosure of “sensitive or potentially injurious information related to national defence, international relations or national security that a party may want to introduce as evidence in court or administrative proceedings.” 

They can also involve certain immigration matters, warrants sought by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, appeals of travel denials due to inclusion on the no-fly list and passport cancellations under the Prevention of Terrorist Travel Act. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026. 

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