Information & Ethics committee  Well, contrary to Professor Deibert, I do believe—because we've done it ourselves—that when we are able to identify the technology that a foreign government or target is using, we are able to either use countermeasures or exploit that technology. The knowledge becomes intelligenc

Information & Ethics committee  There are two reasons. First of all, there's no evidence that there is mass surveillance. The other element is the cost. One way to evaluate how possible or plausible it is that a technology has been deployed is to go with a cost analysis. Just one operation will easily reach h

Information & Ethics committee  You would need to be a little bit more precise. For what purposes are—

Information & Ethics committee  Aerial surveillance from satellites, or coming now from drones, or from airplanes has been used for decades. What we do is to keep up as much as possible with the technology. Drones have now been used by other departments, particularly National Defence when it comes to the milita

Information & Ethics committee  When we talk about the surveillance element, what is also important is that not all surveillance equipment acquires information. Not all information is collected. Sometimes it's just to “tag” a person or vehicle or object in order to be capable of following the device that we are

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, there is a role for them.

Information & Ethics committee  I don't have any official documents. That analysis is based on the experience I've gained over the years. For more specific information, you should reach out to the official agencies, mainly CSIS. In a television interview, former CSIS director Richard Fadden said that a number

Information & Ethics committee  It's a must.

Information & Ethics committee  I think we have mechanisms making us capable—sometimes in camera—of receiving and asking difficult questions. The House of Commons has established a permanent committee now on security and intelligence, which is capable of going across the board in every department to follow the

Information & Ethics committee  If I may add one element, we're spending a lot of time talking about law enforcement, which is the leitmotif of this discussion, but one area that has been neglected is the private world. Private companies are using this kind of technology far more than law enforcement, which is

Information & Ethics committee  No, but you're likely to be concerned about foreign entities spying on you or—

Information & Ethics committee  That's why the RCMP exists, to try to protect you because of these positions that you're taking. This is what we enjoy in our society, this capability of having outspoken elected officials who speak on behalf of our community, just like you do. Unfortunately, at the same time,

Information & Ethics committee  I think some of the evidence and testimony presented by Professor Deibert and others is on the right track; that is, with regard to having certain entities that would be capable of doing the checks and balances, the verification, and asking for the accountability that is necessar

Information & Ethics committee  No. CSIS will usually have to go through a warrant process in order to collect this kind of sensitive evidence and use this kind of technology.

Information & Ethics committee  No. If somebody represents a threat to national security, CSIS can go against a foreigner. For example, there are diplomats who are not diplomats. They are foreign spies. We go after them.