The man at the centre of a Canadian government leak scandal is a member Ottawa punk band the Suicide Pilots. Jeff Monaghan drums for the Dead Kennedys influenced act, who with songs like "Harper Youth" and artwork depicting an airplane flying into the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill leave no question to their political allegances.

The 27 year old was a contract employee with Environment Canada for the past four years. He was recently arrested by the RCMP for breach of trust for allegedly leaking the Conservative government's regulations plan for air pollution and climate change to media. No charges have been laid at this time.

Monaghan's affiliation with the band came to light as reporters delved into his past. Furthermore he's been labeled as an anarchist in the press due to his work as part of the collective who set up the independent bookstore Exile Infoshop. Perhaps less controversially three years ago he was awarded for founding a student-run food collective at Carleton University.

On the charges Monaghan commented in a prepared statement:

The spectacle of my arrest, the subsequent RCMP press release and the prepared statements from Environment Canada, including [Environment Minister John] Baird, have been crafted to bully public servants… What I can tell you is that the proposed charges against me pose a profound threat to the public interest. They are without precedent in their disproportionality, they are vengeful, and they are an extension of a government-wide communications strategy pinned on secrecy, intimidation and centralization.

You can hear music from the Suicide Pilots via their MySpace page.