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Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle heads from Nova Scotia provincial court at a sentencing hearing in Halifax on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press

The Canadian Forces have kicked convicted spy Jeffrey Delisle out of the military and stripped him of his officer's rank and commission.

He's no longer Sub-Lieutenant Delisle but merely Mr. Delisle.

The military is also taking action to recover the salary it paid the ex-sailor since his arrest in January, 2012.

Mr. Delisle, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week by a Halifax judge for passing secrets to the Russian military while he served as a naval intelligence officer.

"Upon the recommendation of General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, has approved the release of Jeffrey Paul Delisle from the Canadian Armed Forces and has revoked his commission," Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced on Wednesday.

"In addition, Mr. Delisle will forfeit his Canadian Forces decoration, and his entitlement to severance pay. The Department of National Defence will also take the appropriate action to recover Mr. Delisle's pay from the date of his arrest to the current day."

Mr. MacKay said in a statement that Mr. Delisle's actions went against everything the Forces represent.

"National and allied intelligence is fundamental in ensuring the safety of Canadians and our government remains committed to its protection," the minister said.

"Mr. Delisle's unauthorized disclosure of secret information is intolerable, inexcusable and inconsistent with the integrity and loyalty that Canadians expect from their men and women in uniform."

In his decision on Feb. 8, Nova Scotia's Chief Judge of the Provincial Court, Patrick Curran, referred to the disgraced officer as a traitor, dismissing his explanation that his wife's betrayal of their marriage was a reason for "his own betrayal of the country."

He said the officer "coldly and rationally" offered his services to the Russians, receiving 23 payments amounting to $71,817 over nearly five years, beginning in 2007.

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