Evidence of meeting #8 for Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was nds.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Again, Mr. Chair, as I mentioned, all of CSIS's activities respected Canadian laws, including the sharing of information with other federal departments.
4:50 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Again, Mr. Chair, answering that question could compromise national security, in my opinion.
4:50 p.m.
Bloc
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Do you make similar remarks when you are being questioned by the Security Intelligence Review Committee? You are aware of the lingering doubts regarding CSIS—espionage and such. Parliament set up a review committee. Have you reported to the committee on your operations, and is that information available in the report that was tabled before Parliament?
4:50 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Mr. Chair, I will answer no to the first part of that question, about whether we give a similar presentation. SIRC has access to all the information on CSIS's activities. So the situation is not at all the same.
4:50 p.m.
Bloc
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
So you cannot tell the review committee that you cannot answer a question because it would compromise national security.
4:50 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Precisely.
4:50 p.m.
Bloc
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
You read the review committee's reports before they were submitted to Parliament. Were the reports consistent with the information that CSIS reported to the committee, the information that was presented in the report tabled before Canada's Parliament? Were they consistent with the testimony you gave before the review committee?
4:50 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Yes, the SIRC reports are consistent.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
All right. We'll move to the government side.
Mr. MacKenzie, you have seven minutes.
May 5th, 2010 / 4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Thank you, Chair.
And thank you to the witness for being here today.
I must say, on behalf of Canadians, we owe a great deal of our safety and security in this country to CSIS and its members. Sometimes we think it would be nice to know everything that agencies do to protect us, and at the same time we have to understand that intelligence gathering is a broad and very basic part of what you do, but it's not necessarily open to the public. I would just offer to you that our close friends to the south are going through a situation right now where they're going to debate whether or not their intelligence was as good as they had hoped or would want. I think we're in that position right now of saying that we haven't experienced what they have, and maybe some of it is a credit to CSIS. I know that Canadians who will see this do appreciate in fact the role that CSIS plays, so I'd like to pass that on to you.
You've been very open about being in Afghanistan since 2002. Does CSIS have a legal mandate to operate in foreign jurisdictions, and if so, can you tell us a little bit about what that mandate might be?
4:55 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Mr. Chair, the service has the legal mandate to carry out its activities outside Canada. Under section 12 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the service shall gather information on activities that may on reasonable grounds be suspected of constituting a threat. But there is no restriction on where that information can be collected, be it in Canada or abroad. In short, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act sets out that legal mandate.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
I'm not going to get into the SIRC aspect. One of my colleagues will talk about that. But can you tell us, in a general sense, the overview mechanisms that exist for CSIS?
4:55 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Yes, I already mentioned SIRC, which has a mandate to examine how the service carries out its activities. There are a number of components to that. SIRC can investigate complaints and review any agreements with foreign services. In fact, the committee has access to whatever information it needs to do its job.
The inspector general, who reports to the Department of Public Safety, is charged with overseeing all of our operations and ensuring that they respect our internal policies; he has to submit an annual report to the Minister of Public Safety.
In addition, section 21 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act requires the service to apply to a judge of the Federal Court for certain powers, such as electronic surveillance.
Of course, the service is also subject to reviews by Treasury Board, the Privacy Commissioner, the Information Commissioner and the Commissioner of Official Languages.
That is an overview of the various mechanisms in place to review CSIS's activities.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Thank you.
As an organization, CSIS is an intelligence-gathering organization. That's its primary function. Would I be correct in that?
4:55 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Correct in the sense that it is the collection and the analysis of that intelligence, and dissemination to government.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
4:55 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
That is correct. The service has no law enforcement authority. We cannot arrest people. We do not collect information for the purpose of gathering evidence that can be used in criminal proceedings. That is not our mandate.
4:55 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
That's correct, Mr. Chairman.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Dave MacKenzie Conservative Oxford, ON
Okay.
One of the areas that's always of interest is that when you deal with foreign agencies, there has to be a trust--and I'm not asking for the names of foreign countries or agencies--that the information you collect will be held in confidence or else the trust is broken and the relationships don't exist. Is that a fair assessment?
4:55 p.m.
Assistant Director, Foreign Collection, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Yes, that's correct, Mr. Chairman. It's known as the third-party rule, under which we will not disclose information received from another agency without the consent of that agency. And we expect the same from the agency with which we have an agreement.
