Good morning, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.
My name is Joanne Renaud. I am the director general of audit, evaluation and ethics at the Communications Security Establishment, known as CSE.
It is my pleasure to appear before you today as you undertake your review of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, the PSDPA.
As the senior officer responsible for receiving and acting on disclosures of wrongdoing, I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this important discussion and share with you the internal mechanisms that CSE has in place for the disclosure of wrongdoings.
Since this is my first time appearing before this committee, by way of background, allow me to begin by introducing CSE and its mandate. CSE is one of Canada's key security and intelligence organizations, and has been in the business of protecting Canadians for over 70 years. Our mission stems from our three-part mandate under the National Defence Act.
The first part of our mandate allows for the collection and analysis of foreign signals intelligence. CSE acquires and uses information from the global information infrastructure to provide foreign signals intelligence based on the government's intelligence priorities. It's important to emphasize that CSE targets only foreign entities and communications, and is prohibited by law from directing its activities at Canadians anywhere or at anyone in Canada.
The second part of our mandate allows for cyber defence and protection. CSE provides “advice, guidance, and services to help ensure the protection of electronic information and information infrastructures of importance to the Government of Canada.” Our cyber and technical expertise helps identify, prepare for, and respond to the most severe cyber-threats and attacks against computer networks and systems, and the information they contain.
Finally, the third part of our mandate allows us “to provide technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies in the performance of their lawful duties.” As Canada's national cryptological agency, CSE possesses unique capabilities and expertise that may be used to assist a requesting law enforcement or security agency, under its legal authority. These activities are subject to any limitations on the requesting agency's legal authority, including any applicable court warrant.
Lawfulness and protecting the privacy of Canadians are enshrined in our mandate, and are also a fundamental part of our organizational culture. CSE employees undergo a rigorous security screening process and maintain the oath of secrecy, as well as the highest standards of security. We respect and protect the privacy of Canadians in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our legislation and Canadian privacy laws.
In fact, the extremely sensitive nature of our work requires us to be even more vigilant, and we take this responsibility very seriously. As public servants working in a classified environment, it is critical that we retain the trust of the government and of Canadians. As a result, CSE has multiple structures in place to ensure that we continue to operate lawfully.
These include executive control and oversight, embedded policy compliance teams in our operational areas, an on-site legal team from the Department of Justice, and active ongoing monitoring of internal processes.
In addition, all of CSE's activities are subject to robust review by the independent CSE Commissioner. The CSE Commissioner has full access to CSE employees, records, systems and data.
Furthermore, I am proud to share with you that just a few weeks ago, we celebrated the third anniversary of the most recent version of the CSE values and ethics charter. The charter articulates our most cherished values of sustainability, integrity, lawfulness, innovation, collaboration, and agility, and sets high standards for professional behaviour to uphold these values.
As you know, CSE requires exceptional treatment under the PSDPA for reasons of national security. As such, the charter provides an internal mechanism for employees to discuss or report serious ethical issues, including a perceived or suspected wrongdoing. Such a mechanism is required for CSE to be compliant with section 52 of the PSDPA, and has been vetted by Treasury Board and is consistent with CSE's values.
In accordance with the charter, any CSE employee who believes they have witnessed or have knowledge of an alleged wrongdoing in the workplace is encouraged to disclose the matter to his or her manager, a union representative, labour relations, the manager of the ethics office, or me, as the senior officer.
As the senior officer, I am responsible for receiving and reviewing these disclosures of wrongdoing, and establishing if there are sufficient grounds for further action and if resolution is appropriate. Similarly, any employee who believes he or she is being asked to act in a way that contradicts the values and ethics set out in the charter can report the matter directly to me. They can be accompanied by a trusted person such as a colleague or union representative.
If neither option seems reasonable or appropriate, a disclosure may be made directly to our deputy head, the chief of CSE. Should a situation occur where an employee feels strongly that a perceived wrongdoing cannot reasonably be addressed within CSE, in such instances employees are reminded that one of the duties of the CSE commissioner, as laid out in the National Defence Act, is to undertake any investigation that he or she considers necessary in response to a complaint.
I am responsible for preparing an annual report to the chief on the number of disclosures received, actions taken, investigations initiated, recommendations made, as well as any identified systemic issues and recommendations for improvement.
The chief in turn is responsible for reporting disclosures made and related issues as part of the annual report to the Minister of National Defence. If an allegation is brought forward that does not meet the criteria of an alleged wrongdoing, I can also direct CSE employees' concerns for consideration and possible handover to other redress parties including audit, management, personnel security, labour relations and our internal counselling and advisory program.
It's important to stress that employees are protected from reprisal for having made a disclosure or having co-operated in an investigation associated with a disclosure. CSE is committed to protecting the identity and privacy of persons involved in all matters related to disclosures of wrongdoing. All information obtained in the course of an investigation is handled and stored in accordance with established procedures for handling and storing protected or classified information. In addition, all information collected as a result of a disclosure is treated in a confidential and discreet manner.
I will conclude my remarks by stating that I am confident in the internal mechanisms that CSE has in place for the disclosure of wrongdoing. My confidence stems from the professionalism and commitment of CSE's highly skilled workforce in carrying out their duties in an ethical and professional manner.
We at CSE know that values and ethics play a fundamental role in maintaining public confidence in the integrity of CSE. As a result, we will continue to strengthen our ethical culture and maintain high standards of behaviour in everything we do.
Thank you for inviting me here today. It will be my pleasure to answer any questions you might ask.