Annual Reports

SIRC Report 2001–2002
An Operational Audit of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service

Security Intelligence Review Committee
122 Bank Street
P.O. Box 2430, Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5W5

Tel: (613) 990-8441
Fax: (613) 990-5230
Web Site: http://www.sirc-csars.gc.ca
Collect calls are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
© Public Works and Government Services Canada 2002
Cat. No. JS71-1/2002
ISBN 0-662-66755-7

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September 30, 2002

The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, P.C., M.P.
Solicitor General of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. MacAulay:

As required by section 53 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, we transmit to you theReport of the Security Intelligence Review Committee for the fiscal year 2001–2002, for your submission to Parliament.

Yours sincerely,

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Statement from the Committee

The 12 months since SIRC last reported to Parliament coincide with what must be one of the most unsettling periods for Canadians since the end of the Second World War. Concern about public safety and the government's ability to protect the country and its citizens is at an all time high. Canada's security and intelligence apparatus—CSIS in particular—has become the object of public and media scrutiny of a kind not seen in decades. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks on September 11, the Government of Canada quickly adopted additional security measures and drafted new laws to combat terrorism. Within three months the comprehensive new Anti-terrorism Act was in place.

The Committee is also aware of the palpable shift in public mood since September 11. For the time being at least, Canadians appear broadly tolerant of the government's public safety initiatives, and the agencies that comprise the government's law enforcement and security apparatus have the benefit of most Canadians' doubts. Although public sentiment on such matters is often as fluid as it is hard to measure, the effect overall of the terrible events in the United States has been, we believe, to alter the public's sense of where government should strike the balance between protecting individual liberties on one side, and maintaining public safety and national security on the other.

Today, all democratic governments walk a fine line between these two claims. In watching over the activities of CSIS, the Review Committee helps ensure that balance is maintained. Although we must be sensitive to public and expert opinion—and take deliberate steps to inform ourselves—we must also take care not to be unduly swayed.

Recent history, in this country and elsewhere, teaches us that public opinion driven by scandals or calamitous events can profoundly affect how security intelligence bodies carry out their tasks. The Review Committee believes that its work must transcend events and politics, and that continuity of principle, meticulous research and sober judgement are its chief assets.

More than ever, security and public safety are shared, international responsibilities with many countries, among them our closest allies and friends, seeking to work together in unprecedented ways. Just as terrorists and violent criminals function in a world effectively without borders, so must the efforts to combat them.

The internationalization of the anti-terrorist effort imposes obligations on statesto share information, coordinate plans and operations and find ways to harmonize laws and regulations. However, these pressures present their own dilemmas. Among the thriving democracies who are our closest allies—and not incidentally the Service's closest international partners—security intelligence practices and cultures vary considerably, as do perceptions of individual rights. The Review Committee remains seized with the need to uphold distinctly Canadian core values while exercising its mandate.

The events of September 11 introduced concrete new realities to SIRC's work in reviewing CSIS's activities. On the its chief assets legal side, while Parliament has not given CSIS new powers, the newly enacted legislation is expected to increase the number of complaints about CSIS that are lodged with us. Both the new Anti-terrorism Act and the Charities Registration Act contain provisions for naming individuals and groups engaged in terrorist-related activities. Once these provisions are implemented, some of the people and entities so named can be expected to file complaints against CSIS with the Review Committee—as is their right under Canadian law.

Of immediate impact on the Service, the government's Public Safety and Anti-Terrorism initiative gave it a 30 percent increase in budget. As a result, the Service can be expected to engage in significantly more of those very activities that are of compelling interest to the Committee—more intelligence officers hired, more investigations launched, more warrants applied for, more liaison with domestic police and international intelligence agencies and more human sources recruited.

The Committee continues to review and assess the Service's activities, while adjusting its program of research and analysis to the new domestic and international realities. As in the past, we will report our findings—including as much information as law and prudence permit—to Parliament and the people of Canada.