Appeal Court upholds ruling CSIS kept judge in the dark on foreign spying

OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service hid the fact it was relying on foreign intelligence agencies to spy on Canadians abroad.

In a ruling released today, a panel of appeal judges affirmed the conclusions of Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley, who criticized CSIS for requesting warrants to track two Canadians with technical help from the Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s electronic spy agency.

CSIS failed to disclose that CSEC’s foreign counterparts in the Five Eyes intelligence network could be called upon to help – something Mosley called a deliberate decision to keep the court in the dark about the scope and extent of the foreign collection efforts.

READ MORE: Do Canada’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies need more power?

The government appealed the decision that CSIS “breached its duty of candour.”

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says he will seek permission to appeal the latest ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.

At the same time, the government has introduced a bill that would allow CSIS to seek a judicial warrant to investigate a security threat beyond Canada’s borders.