VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has released thousands of pages of redacted documents that purportedly show the Canadian Security Intelligence Service illegally monitored groups opposing a pipeline project.

The association said Monday the agency gathered information on environmental and indigenous activists and then shared the data with the National Energy Board and major oil industry players. The activists were fighting to stop the since canceled Northern Gateway Pipelines which would have moved bitumen from Alberta to British Columbia.

Civil liberties association lawyer Meghan McDermott said the spying activity was "in violation of the law" and discouraged "people form expressing their own opinions."

The intelligence agency said it "investigates activities that fall within the definition of threats to the security of Canada and reports them to the government of Canada."