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Canadian Security Intelligence Service
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The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) (SCRS) is the primary intelligence agency of the Canadian government. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing and reporting intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.
Its headquarters are located at 1941 Ogilvie Road, in Ottawa, Ontario, in a purpose-built facility completed in 1995.
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Encyclopedia
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) (SCRS) is the primary intelligence agency of the Canadian government. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing and reporting intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.
Its headquarters are located at 1941 Ogilvie Road, in Ottawa, Ontario, in a purpose-built facility completed in 1995. CSIS is responsible to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety, but is also overseen by the Federal Court system, the Inspector General of Canada, and the Security Intelligence Review Committee.
History
CSIS was created on June 21, 1984 by an Act of Parliament passed as a consequence of the McDonald Commission. The main thrust of the McDonald Report was that security intelligence work should be separated from policing, and that the activities of a new agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, should be subject to both judicial approval for warrants, as well as general oversight review by a new body, the Security Intelligence Review Committee, as well as the office of the Inspector General. Its de facto existence began on July 16 under the direction of Thomas D'Arcy Finn. Before this, Canadian intelligence had been under the jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service.
Mission and operations
CSIS is Canada's lead agency for national security matters. It is a federal agency which conducts national security investigations and security intelligence collection at home and abroad. CSIS collects and analyzes intelligence and advises the Government of Canada on issues and activities that may threaten the security of Canada. CSIS also conducts security investigations and assessments for all applicants seeking a security clearance with federal departments and agencies (including applicants to the Department of National Defence), with the exception of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
There is no restriction in the CSIS Act on where CSIS may collect "security intelligence" or information relating to threats to the security of Canada. The agency may collect information on threats to Canada or Canadians from anywhere in the world. While CSIS is often viewed as a defensive security intelligence agency it is not a domestic agency. CSIS officers work domestically and internationally in their efforts to monitor and counter threats to Canadian security.
There is a distinction between "security intelligence" and "foreign intelligence". Security intelligence pertains to national security threats (e.g. terrorism, espionage). Foreign intelligence involves information collection relating to the political, or economic activities of foreign states. According to Section 16 of the CSIS Act, the agency collects this type of "foreign intelligence" within Canada.
CSIS is neither a police agency nor is it a part of the military. As an intelligence agency, the primary role of CSIS is not law enforcement. Investigation of criminal activity is left to the RCMP and local (regional or city) police agencies. CSIS, like counterparts such as the United Kingdom Secret Intelligence Service, the domestic British Security Service (MI5) and the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is a civilian agency. CSIS is subject to review by the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) and an Inspector General (IG) as well as other legislative checks and balances. The agency carries out its functions in accordance with the CSIS Act, which governs and defines its powers and activities.
Canadian police, military agencies (see Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch), and numerous other government departments may maintain their own "intelligence" components (i.e. to analyze criminal intelligence or military strategic intelligence). The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade maintains a Security and Intelligence Bureau to review and analyze overtly acquired information. The bureau plays a coordinating and policy role. While not an intelligence agency, it is responsible for the security of the Department of Foreign Affairs personnel,around the world. However, these agencies are not to be confused with the more encompassing work of larger, dedicated "intelligence agencies" such as CSIS, SIS, MI5 or the CIA.
The Operational Programs of CSIS include:
- see also: ECHELON
- Facing Technological Challenges
CSIS works closely with the intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Under the post–World War II Quadpartite Pact all intelligence information is shared between the intelligence agencies of these four countries.
Permission to put a subject under surveillance is granted by the Target Approval and Review Committee.
Security Liaison Officers (SLOs) of CSIS are posted at Canadian embassies and consulates to gather security-related intelligence from other nations. This information may be gathered from other national intelligence agencies, law enforcement services and other sources. SLOs also assess potential immigrants to Canada for security issues.
In October 2008, CSIS was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine.
Oversight
The activities of CSIS are regularly reviewed on behalf of Parliament by the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC). It is also under the portfolio of the federal Minister of Public Safety (Canada), whose Inspector General compiles an annual classified report on CSIS' operational activities for the Minister. Both SIRC and the CSIS IG have access to all CSIS information, classified and open, with the exception of Cabinet Confidences.
Controversies
CSIS has at times come under criticism, such as in the apparent bungling of the investigation into the 1985 Air India bombing. The Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India
Flight 182, headed by Mr. Justice John Major, is underway. Two Canadian courts have publicly criticized CSIS for destroying wiretap evidence. One court impressed upon the importance of wiretap evidence from CSIS in establishing guilt. The second focused on its exculpatory value.
From 1988 to 1994, CSIS mole Grant Bristow infiltrated the Canadian white-supremacist movement; when the story became public knowledge, the press aired concerns that he had not only been one of the founders of the Heritage Front group, but that he had also channelled CSIS funding to this group.
In 1999, classified documents were stolen from the car of a CSIS employee who was attending a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game. The Security Intelligence Review Committee reportedly investigated this incident.
Rather than playing a purely domestic role, the Service has been "noticeably altered" to allow it to play a part in Canada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan, as well as the Iraq War.
On September 18, 2006, the Arar Commission absolved CSIS of any involvement in the extraordinary rendition by the United States of a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar. The Commission found that U.S. authorities sent Arar to Jordan and then Syria (his country of birth) based on incorrect information which had been provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to the U.S. government. Arar was held by the Syrians for one year and has claimed he was tortured. The sole criticism of CSIS levelled by the Commission was that the agency should do more to vet information provided by regimes which practice torture. In late 2006, the Government of Canada and Arar agreed to a C$10 million settlement. Arar has filed suit against the U.S. government, and the matter is ongoing.
In 2008 the question of overseas intercepts became both a news topic in major Canadian newspapers and a topic of debate in the intelligence community. The ruling indicated that the court did not have the jurisdiction to authorize a Canadian agency to conduct electronic surveillance operations overseas and focused attention on the possibility that CSIS may need more powers. The CSIS Act empowers the agency to investigate threats to Canada "within or relating to Canada," at home or abroad. This is "security intelligence" and CSIS is mandated by Parliament to collect such threat information anywhere in the world. However, Section 16 of the Act restricts the gathering of political and economic information (defined as "foreign intelligence") about foreign states to within Canada. The Communications Security Establishment, the Canadian signals intelligence agency, is not permitted to listen in on conversations between Canadians outside of the country. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes on the United States, some have advocated either giving CSIS a clearer mandate abroad or setting up a separate Canadian foreign intelligence agency for the collection of political and economic information.
See also
External links
- contains a review about CSIS's and RCMP's role under the Anti-Terrorism Act
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