Liberals Introduce Legislation to Increase National Security Oversight for Canadians

November 7, 2013

OTTAWA– Liberal Public Safety Critic Wayne Easter will today introduce a bill to create a parliamentary committee to enhance the oversight of Canada’s national security agencies.

“Recent allegations that the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) engaged in surveillance and intelligence gathering in Brazil have made it abundantly clear that we must urgently provide Canadians with greater national security oversight,” said Mr. Easter. “The current oversight structure of Canada’s national security and intelligence agencies is woefully inadequate and does not provide Parliament and Canadians with a meaningful understanding of what the government is doing. Unfortunately, this is only part of a larger trend of inadequate oversight of all of our intelligence agencies.”

Mr. Easter’s bill has been championed by Liberals, in government and opposition, for almost a decade. It would create a parliamentary committee mandated to review the legislative, regulatory, policy and administrative framework for agencies responsible for national security in Canada. This proactive oversight of all aspects of national security handled by the federal government will fill a gap addressed by Canada’s major allies long ago – namely providing oversight and accountability for agencies that have functioned in nearly complete secrecy.

“Canadians are calling for such legislation because right now there is nobody watching the watchers, nor providing oversight of the various agencies, including CSEC, CSIS and the RCMP,” said Liberal National Defence Critic Joyce Murray.

“Given that this bill stems from a 2004 report by an all-party committee of Parliamentarians, of which the Minister of Justice, Peter Mackay, was a member, we expect the government’s full cooperation as this proposal moves through Parliament,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Marc Garneau.

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Background:

Purpose:

The intent of Mr. Easter’s bill to establish a National Security Committee of Parliamentarians is summarized by the committee’s mandate:

“The mandate of the committee is to review the legislative, regulatory, policy and administrative framework for national security in Canada, and activities of federal departments and agencies in relation to national security.”

The necessity for this legislation has been evident for over a decade. Recent events involving the CSEC in Canada and the National Security Agency in the United States, and the relationship the latter has with security agencies in Canada, have only increased the urgent need to establish a proactive oversight committee of Parliamentarians.

History:

The history of this legislation extends back to 2004, with the release of the former Liberal government’s national security strategy for Canada. From that strategy emerged the advisory committee of Parliamentarians to the Minister of Public Safety. The committee’s report, which was unanimously supported by the all-party membership, outlined the structure for a committee of Parliamentarians.

Since that time, both the House of Commons Public Safety Committee in 2009 and the Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism in 2011 have called for the establishment of this oversight committee.

The Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism concluded, “Canada now lags significantly behind its allies on the issue of parliamentary oversight as the only country that lacks a parliamentary committee with substantial powers of review over matters of national security.”

Content:

Mr. Easter’s Private Member’s bill proposes a holistic and proactive approach to oversight of intelligence gathering and national security entities.

The legislation would impose a requirement upon Ministers, as well as departments and agencies, to cooperate with the committee in order to ensure that the mandate of the committee is fulfilled.

Some of the specific elements of the legislation include:

  • That the committee be comprised of Members of Parliament from both the House (six) and Senate (three).
  • That members of the opposition be eligible to participate on the committee.
  • That the committee be empowered to request from any Minister information it requires to fulfill its mandate.
  • That any denial of information be justified by the appropriate Minister to the chair of the committee in writing.
  • That the government can withhold information on the basis of: solicitor-client privilege; its relation to an ongoing criminal or national security investigation or military operation; or having been obtained in confidence from a foreign government or that it could lead to the identification of sources of information or operational methods.
  • That the report of the committee be submitted to the Prime Minister, who is then required to table the report before Parliament, excluding only information which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations.