Evidence of meeting #21 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
That's an excellent and interesting question.
I am aware of the legislative changes that the member refers to, and I could offer that, to my knowledge, all of the reporting we did have from individual citizens originated from within Canada. That would certainly be a take-away: that we could reflect on what we could do better in the next election.
Thank you to the member for the question and the input.
Conservative
Grant Jackson Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I think that's a point of concern: that perhaps these citizens living abroad, of which there are now many more by virtue of this legislative change, may not be aware of the task force and the efforts you're undertaking to protect them and Canadians living within the country. It is a concern, given that there are not just a couple of hundred but rather millions, potentially, now—or thousands, anyway.
I appreciate your undertaking that to protect them as well, because every vote counts. They get to choose the constituency where their ballot is going to be cast, based on where they last lived. That's how I understand it's going to be implemented. Therefore, it's quite complicated when you get multiple generations down.
Anyway, I don't know if anybody else has any additional thoughts on that. I'm just quite concerned about the potential impact of this. Perhaps that should have been thought of before the legislation was implemented, but we are where we are.
Associate Head, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Communications Security Establishment
Mr. Chair, if you'll let me add some additional information, I would say that I think it's an opportunity for us, too, because so much of what we communicated about this is online—the information that we have and that we put out there for Canadians. Maybe it's a point for us to be looking at how we make sure that we're reaching Canadians abroad with that same information and insight.
Liberal
Conservative
Grant Jackson Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
I'll be very quick.
I take your point about TV and its being the main source of information. I'm coming from a younger, a generation Z, perspective. We don't pay for cable news subscriptions. Therefore, I am concerned about the narrative and the information that people are getting from sources like TikTok. Are you engaging on those platforms in terms of disinformation and those types of things going on?
Executive Director, Rapid Response Mechanism, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I will confirm that, yes, we are active on these platforms in terms of providing information to Canadians directly where they consume it. During GE45, we made sure that the information was also available in simplified and traditional Chinese so that we could reach the constituents and they could absorb the information that was communicated by the SITE task force.
In response to your question, yes, we are communicating on various social media platforms to Canadians.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Thank you so much.
Madam Kayabaga, the floor is yours for five minutes.
Liberal
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
Thank you so much.
I'll ask this because it's relevant to the conversation we're having right now, and it could be relevant as we could potentially be in an election anytime soon. We are a minority government and an election can happen at any point. Can the task force walk us through how intelligence is stress-tested inside your group before it informs a decision, especially in moments when there is an election and there is information that is incomplete or rapidly evolving?
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
I believe the committee would have heard some of this testimony in the evidence presented by the panel last week on the range of considerations given to the intelligence that we put before it.
In terms of the intelligence originating from CSIS, for example, we endeavour to ensure that the intelligence we put forward to the panel is characterized so that the panel will have detail to help it make the determination based on the level of confidence it has in that piece of information or intelligence. That can range from qualifying whether it is a single piece of information that has been corroborated, new information or information that has come from one of our partners at this table or, as my colleagues have mentioned, has come from another intelligence agency that collaborates and is also monitoring—particularly in 2024, which was the year of elections around the world—interference that occurred in their countries. Sometimes, as a result of that, they are able to inform Canadian concerns as well.
Associate Head, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Communications Security Establishment
If I can add to that, both of our teams worked very hard, as Ms. Lloyd said, to assess this information to make sure that we were incorporating all of it and judging it. We also met very regularly at different levels. Our teams were engaged in that assessment process. We met daily as an assistant deputy minister community to know and understand another level of challenge and provide feedback before all of that information was ultimately shared with the panel.
Liberal
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
What I was trying to get from this question is I hope that, if we're in an election and there's something happening rapidly, the response is much quicker than going through many different layers of bureaucracy to get to a decision.
How do you flag that? How do we make sure we're not going to be dealing with it post-election and that we can actually take action in that immediate moment?
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
As Ms. Walshe said, we met daily and we put our information in a brief through the chair of the committee, the director of CSIS, who gave a weekly brief to the panel. That being said, if we'd had an instance where we wanted to raise something urgently, there was always the opportunity to convene the panel on an urgent basis.
I would also add that it is important to understand that, in our ongoing mandates, we are constantly collecting information outside of election periods that can also be relevant during the election period. We often found ourselves in situations where we had context to add to an evolving incident and already had some information that was relevant to the panel's consideration.
Liberal
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
Looking ahead to a potential election, what would help Canadians remain vigilant?
There have been a lot of comments in the committee during this study about ethnic communities that may have some challenges going to vote because they fear foreign interference. It's a big threat, and they fear that their votes may be intercepted. We've already talked about the fact that our votes are secure and safe.
What kind of information do you think Canadians can have right now as they prepare for an election?
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Thank you for the question.
I hope we've succeeded in communicating that the information and tool kits we developed in advance of GE45 remain available online and are actively talked about as we all engage with communities and, as well, as the foreign interference coordinator from Public Safety engages with different communities to make sure that that level of awareness and those tools are used on an ongoing basis, particularly to combat some of the threats my colleague Mr. Babou mentioned in terms of disinformation, which could occur on any issue, regardless of whether it's an election period.
I see that Bridget wants to jump in, so I'm going to stop.
Associate Head, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Communications Security Establishment
Maybe what I'll add is that we always look to see if there is something that we should be communicating, election or not, and in preparation if need be. We typically put out our publication on threats to the democratic process every two years. Last winter, when we saw those threats from AI increasing, we went off cycle.
We went off cycle, we put it out there and we worked with the media to make sure it was distributed. We put it onto social media so that maybe some of the gen Zs would pick it up. We did all the things to promote and make sure it was out there.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
Thank you so much.
Before we go, I have a couple of questions. I'm getting into a bad habit of asking questions at the end.
We've talked about security clearance, and I think that for a lot of Canadians it really doesn't mean anything. I've been through the process, and I'm certain you've all been through the process. Could you briefly explain, from the broad applications through interviews, what physically happens when you apply for your security clearance?
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Mr. Chair, may I clarify whether it is specific to members of Parliament that your question is asked?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
That's my experience, but yes, specifically to members of Parliament, or perhaps to party members who have gone through this process.
February 10th, 2026 / 12:55 p.m.
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Okay. I'll take that as CSIS and not necessarily as SITE.
In the instance where a party wishes to have a member cleared for a security clearance, that is something that is done through sponsorship and approach of the Privy Council Office, and that would be referred to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as it relates to conducting our government screening processes. We apply that kind of lens to the security clearances and the advice we give back.
In the government employment space, that's called government security screening, and in the security clearances for members, we do a very similar process. We use our authorities under the CSIS Act to investigate and provide advice back to the sponsoring department.
In this case, for members like you, that sponsoring department is the Privy Council Office and, as the chair mentioned, that can include interviews with you as individuals and also with individuals around you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
You would agree with me that it's a very lengthy and thick application that you have to go through.
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Certainly for my colleagues here at the table it is in fact more lengthy than what you are subject to. Most of us have enhanced top secret clearances, which have a number of specific criteria under the government policy for security clearances.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
A lengthy interview on what is in the application is what is found by the process of going through that application. Is that correct?
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
It can be a lengthy interview.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Chris Bittle
If you had something to hide, you probably wouldn't want to go through that process. Is that correct?
Deputy Director, Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force, Canadian Security Intelligence Service
I would say that those processes often can give opportunities to clarify concerns we would have, so there is a benefit to engaging in the process and having the opportunity to have any misconceptions clarified as well.