Canada’s ability to spy overseas under microscope by MPs, senators

Parliamentarians are taking a hard look at Canada’s overseas intelligence gathering capabilities as debate simmers over the need for a new foreign spy agency.

The MPs and senators who make up the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians are examining the effectiveness of Canada’s foreign intelligence collection.

The secretariat of the highly secretive committee would not elaborate on the scope, timeframe or potential findings of the review, which was announced in a brief June statement. It also declined to make chair Darren Fisher, a Liberal MP, available for an interview.

A recent academic paper on the decades-long discussion about whether Canada should launch a foreign spy agency was to be included in the material presented to committee members as background for their investigation.

Records recently disclosed by Public Safety Canada under the Access to Information Act indicate cabinet ministers have been briefed on the idea of expanding Canada’s capacity to gather and act on foreign intelligence.

The Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency, collects foreign intelligence through electronic means. Global Affairs Canada contributes diplomatic reporting, while the military gathers defence-specific intelligence.

CSIS is permitted to gather intelligence in Canada and abroad about security threats such as terrorism and espionage. It is allowed to gather foreign intelligence — information about the activities, capabilities and intentions of foreign people, organizations and states — only within Canada, not overseas.

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A CSIS memo prepared last year said that in an uncertain geopolitical environment, Canada’s demand for such foreign intelligence might grow.

“Canada can only learn and act so much through its current collection and authorities, and has historically relied on allied partnerships for certain foreign intelligence reporting,” the memo said.

Various proposals for a Canadian foreign intelligence service have been debated since the end of the Second World War.

The committee review of Canada’s foreign intelligence capacity comes as the Carney government prepares the first national security strategy in more than two decades. Such a strategy could shed light on the government’s intelligence needs and whether current mechanisms can satisfy them.

Briefing materials prepared in February for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the national security strategy would focus on building autonomy and resilience to help Canada adapt to unexpected changes.

The strategy would also, for the first time, recognize the centrality of economic security to national security, the notes said. “Prosperity must be built on a secure foundation, and a strong economy increases our ability to act autonomously.”

During the 2006 election campaign, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives promised to create a foreign intelligence agency to gather intelligence overseas and independently counter threats before they reach Canada. Such an agency did not materialize.

Goran Samuel Pesic recalls working on the issue in 2007 as an adviser to Stockwell Day, the public safety minister at the time.

Pesic, a political strategist and lobbyist, said successive governments have shied away from creating a dedicated foreign spy service because public servants told them it wasn’t necessary and, ultimately, because of the cost.

A foreign intelligence agency can help foster sovereignty and the national interest, he said in an interview.

“To be an independent country, we must possess the tools of statecraft,” he said.

“Today’s environments are such that everything is now international, and what happens in other places will have massive ramifications in Canada.”

A foreign intelligence service could provide insights from around the world that help Canada anticipate events, he said.

“The political question is, do we make one or not? And if we’re prepared to make one, what does it going to look like? What mandate will it serve? How it will complement existing intelligence collection architecture, and ultimately what will be the long-term funding model to support this?” Pesic said.

“I don’t buy for one single moment that it’s too expensive. Life is expensive. Canadian interests are priceless.”