Thank you.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for your invitation to appear before your committee.
I'm pleased to be here today to discuss matters related to Bill S-7, the Combating Terrorism Act, in particular, and the role and mandate of the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, ITAC.
Similar to CSIS, the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC) is not an enforcement organization, so the Criminal Code provisions related to traveling overseas to engage in terrorism will not affect our work. I would echo my colleague's comments about the amendments related to protecting sensitive information from public disclosure. That being said, I should make clear that ITAC has no independent ability to collect intelligence. Simply put, unlike CSIS, we have no intelligence officers in the field.
Rather, the primary objective of ITAC is to provide comprehensive and timely terrorist threat assessments for all levels of the Government of Canada with security responsibilities. Our workforce is seconded from across government, thereby representing a wide variety of skill sets and knowledge bases. These individuals bring their knowledge and expertise to ITAC, making it uniquely qualified to analyze terrorist threats against Canadian interests in a way that takes into account the perspectives of all government departments and agencies.
ITAC acquires information from across the Government of Canada, including the Canada Border Services Agency; CSIS; the Communications Security Establishment Canada; the RCMP; Foreign Affairs and International Trade; CRA; the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, also known as FINTRAC; the Privy Council Office; Public Works; National Defence; and the Correctional Service of Canada.
Mr. Chair, ITAC threat reports use intelligence and information from various sources and methods to assess this threat. We provide these terrorism threat warnings and assessments in relation to, for example, travel by high-profile officials, high-profile events, and current threat-related activities both in Canada and abroad.
Turning to the threats themselves, I would echo the deputy director's comments. The most serious terrorist threat to Canada remains violent Islamist extremism, although I would be careful to point out that no ideology, religion, or group is immune from violent, extremist elements.
al-Qaeda and its affiliates continue to represent the greatest threat from the Islamist terrorist perspective. These would include, for example, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is known for innovative attack planning; al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which has conducted kidnapping operations from its Sahara safe haven; al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has gained experience during the Iraq insurgency; al-Qaeda core, which, though seriously weakened, remains committed to violent jihad from its Pakistani base; and al-Shabaab, which has a strong territorial base in Somalia and an experienced cadre of foreign fighters.
My position, as Executive Director, is jointly appointed by the National Security Advisor and the director of CSIS. Committee members should also be made aware that ITAC was formed as a result of the events of 9/11. It was created as an organization that would bridge some of the institutional gaps in the Government of Canada.
At the time, you will remember that there was a reasonable fear that the Government of Canada was not sharing information horizontally to the extent it should have. As the final report of the National Commission on the 9/11 terrorist attacks demonstrated, the United States also had very similar concerns. Moreover, there was a need for an organization to provide greater all-source analysis and context regarding terrorist threats, taking into account the expertise from across the Government of Canada.
Mr. Chair, clearly the need for cooperation and information sharing across the Government of Canada is vital to our national security. The siloed approach of yesteryear simply does not work, potentially endangering lives and damaging Canadian interests. ITAC prides itself on being an important piece in solving this policy puzzle, thus providing support to the Government of Canada's national counter-terrorism policy.
As I've reached the end of my time, I now look forward to answering the committee's questions.
Thank you.