Evidence of meeting #101 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was use.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:25 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Natural Resources
If we were to use it, we would have the security protocol and the mandate to do so.
However, before using the tool, we would make sure to carry out a privacy impact assessment.
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
René Villemure Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
What level of authority is required to purchase this type of tool? Is it authorized by you, as deputy minister, or by someone lower or higher in the hierarchy?
11:25 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Natural Resources
To my knowledge, at the time, the tool was authorized by the chief information officer, Mr. Pelletier's current position, after a discussion with the department's head of security.
11:25 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Natural Resources
Yes, absolutely. We follow the protocols in place before proceeding. We purchased the tool through Shared Services Canada, after discussions, in keeping with the protocols and based on the information that we had.
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
11:25 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Natural Resources
The monitoring system makes sure that everything is in place. These tools are used if we have a security mandate to look at a case a bit more closely.
11:25 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Natural Resources
It involves determining whether someone is disclosing information that falls within the definition set out in our security mandate. We would then collect the information necessary to meet these needs.
11:25 a.m.
Bloc
11:25 a.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Natural Resources
Yes, that's certainly possible. There may be different reasons.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Monsieur Villemure and Monsieur Brisson.
Mr. Green, you have six minutes. Go ahead, please.
11:25 a.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Thank you very much.
I begin my comments with Mr. Yarker. Would you agree that the spirit of this conversation is about trust?
11:25 a.m.
BGen Dave Yarker
Yes. Certainly from our perspective, the tools and questions that we use and the processes that we wrap around them are deliberately intended to increase the trust in our network and to ensure that it's not compromised.
11:25 a.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I think it's safe to say.... Maybe I'll put this question another way. Those who are enrolled in the military, by virtue of their enrolment in the military, aren't exactly citizens. I wouldn't necessarily compare your members to members of the Department of Agriculture, for instance. Is that correct?
11:25 a.m.
BGen Dave Yarker
Okay. I certainly understand your point. Thank you for the question.
What I would say is that all members of the department retain their right to appropriate privacy, and we certainly consider those in all of our operations.
11:25 a.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
You did make a statement earlier, though, about it not being within your mandate to surveil Canadians.
11:25 a.m.
BGen Dave Yarker
That's correct.
11:25 a.m.
NDP
11:25 a.m.
BGen Dave Yarker
I am not. My role is as a cyber-operations officer, focused here largely on cyber-defensive operations.
11:25 a.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Have you ever had any dealings with Canadian joint operations command?
11:25 a.m.
BGen Dave Yarker
Yes, I do work with Canadian joint operations command regularly.