John Lennon was monitored by Canadian government

Newly declassified documents report that John Lennon was spied on by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) during the height of his peace protests. The Canadian Press reported that the RCMP Security Service was monitoring both Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono while the couple planned an ill-fated three-day peace festival that was to have taken place in July 1970 Ontario's Mosport Park.

According to a heavily censored document dated December 30th, 1969, the Mounties reported that Lennon was planning on inviting the Beatles as well as Elvis Presley to participate in the festival.

Portions of the memo, which were released through the Access to Information Act, stated that, "Lennon hoped that if the festival would turn out to be a success, there would be a good chance they might take this festival to Russia."

The RCMP report also said that Lennon was under watch by the Canadian government during his and Ono's May 1969 Montreal bed-in for peace.

The Lennons eventually abandoned the idea for the festival after running into interference from the Beatles' then-manager Allen Klein and various promoters who objected to the idea of a free concert.

By July 1970, the couple had put their peace campaign on hold while undergoing "primal scream" therapy in Los Angeles.