EVENT DATE: November 9, 2016
TOPIC: The Code-breaking Saga of Enigma in WW 2 – and Canada’s Role
Mr. Brisson graduated from the University of Ottawa with an M Sc.. He also completed the American National Security Agency (NSA) three year Cryptologic Mathematics Program. He worked 31 years at CSEC as a cryptologist, in various fields of Mathematics and Computer Science, as well as management.
Mr. Brisson is a long time collector of vintage cryptologic and clandestine espionage related artifacts. His artifacts focus on espionage used by the Canadian military in WW II as well as equipment used by the major powers in the Cold War. His devices have been displayed in the Diefenbunker, Canada’s National Museum of Science and Technology, and the National Cryptologic Museum in Fort Meade, Maryland.
They have also been used in various television productions . In late 2001 his artifacts were part of a one hour program called “Secret Secretaries”, featuring women who worked in WW II for Sir William Stephenson at British Security Coordination. They were used in another feature titled “The True Intrepid”, shown on Global and the Mystery Channel. Part of his collection was also used in 2006 to form the “Cryptologic Toys” exhibit at Fort Meade, focusing on children’s decoders and secret writings, related to Radio Orphan Annie and Captain Midnight.
His clandestine radios from WW II, notably the B2 radio suitcase, have been portrayed in a production called “The Secret Liberators”, as well as in a French production, “Les espions venus de la mer”, focusing on German spies who landed on the eastern shores of Canada in World War II.