Annual Report 2003-2004 - An Operational Review of CSIS Activities

Section 3 : Inside the Security Intelligence Review Committee

APPOINTMENT OF A NEW MEMBER

In November 2003, the Governor in Council appointed the Honourable Roy Romanow, P.C., O.C., Q.C., as a Member of the Committee for a five-year term. Mr. Romanow was first elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1967 and served as Deputy Premier from 1971 to 1982. He was acclaimed Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party in 1987, and became Premier of Saskatchewan following the October 1991 election. Mr. Romanow retired from politics as Premier in February 2001. He is currently a Senior Fellow in Public Policy at the universities of Saskatchewan and Regina and is also a visiting Fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University.

In June 2004, following the end of the 2003–2004 fiscal year, the Honourable Raymond Speaker, P.C., O.C., completed his five-year term on the Review Committee.

SIRC STAFFING AND ORGANIZATION

As of March 31, 2004 the Committee had a staff of 14, comprising an Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, Senior Counsel, Senior Paralegal (who also serves as Access to Information and Privacy Officer/Analyst), Research Manager, two Senior Research Advisors, one Senior Research Analyst, two Research Analysts, a Finance/Office Manager and three administrative support staff. The Senior Paralegal serves as Committee registrar for hearings.

Members of the Committee identify the research and other activities they wish to pursue and set priorities for staff accordingly. Management of the day-to-day operations of SIRC is delegated to the Executive Director with direction, as required, from the Committee Chair in her role as Chief Executive Officer.

RESEARCH AND REVIEW ACTIVITIES

For each fiscal year, the Committee selects a number of CSIS investigations and areas of responsibility for detailed review. These selections may be supplemented during the year with additional priority projects identified by the Committee. SIRC researchers and analysts conduct the in-depth reviews of the selected areas, with direction from senior management and regular reporting to the Committee. Staff divide their time between SIRC's premises and fully equipped office space provided for the Committee's exclusive use at CSIS Headquarters.

SECURITY INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS

The Chair and Committee Members participate in regular discussions with staff from CSIS and with other senior officials within the security intelligence community. These exchanges are supplemented by discussions with academics, security and intelligence experts and relevant non-governmental organizations such as human rights groups in order to enrich the Committee's knowledge of a range of issues and opinions affecting the security and intelligence field. The Committee also schedules some of its regular meetings in different regions of Canada so that the Members can meet with CSIS regional office staff and receive briefings on local issues, challenges, priorities and perspectives.

ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

Each year, Committee Members and senior SIRC staff meet with representatives of the security intelligence community, including those from other countries, academia and non-governmental organizations to make presentations and exchange views.

In May 2003, the Chair, Committee Members and Executive Director discussed issues of common concern with their counterparts in Oslo, Norway and London, England.

In September 2003, the Executive Director gave a presentation to representatives from the U.S. National Committee on Terrorist Attacks.

The Chair and Committee members, together with the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and Senior Counsel, hosted the Swedish Defence Intelligence Commission in October 2003. That same month, the Executive Director and several SIRC staff attended the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Security and Intelligence Studies in Vancouver.

In October 2003 and again in March 2004, the Executive Director was a guest lecturer at Carleton University on the role of SIRC in the review of CSIS's activities, and in the investigation of complaints.

In November 2003, several SIRC staff attended the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies (CCISS) Conference in Ottawa. The Executive Director sits on the Board of the CCISS.

In November 2003, the Chair was a guest lecturer at the Collège Militaire in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

In December 2003, the Executive Director and senior staff received a delegation from the Comité permanent de contrôle des services de renseignements of Belgium.

In March 2004, officials from the United Kingdom's Intelligence and Security Committee met with the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director.

The SIRC Chair gave a speech to the Peace and International Security Program at Laval University in Quebec City in March, 2004.

In late March 2004, the Executive Director attended a conference in Berlin entitled "Secrecy and Transparency: The Democratic Control of Intelligence Services in International Perspective".

BUDGET AND EXPENDITURES

In fiscal year 2003–2004, the Committee once again managed its activities within approved resource levels. The chief expenses were for salaries and benefits as well as for travel within Canada for the Committee's hearings, briefings and review activities. This year's travel expenditures included the Committee Members' meetings in both Norway and the United Kingdom with oversight bodies for the security and intelligence organizations in those countries.

SIRC REQUEST FOR INCREASED FUNDING

In the Committee's annual reports for both 2001–2002 and 2002–2003, we noted that the Government had increased the budget of CSIS by 30 percent. The direct result of this increase was a sizeable increase in the Service's investigative activity, which SIRC is legally required to monitor and review.

SIRC reviewed the impact of the expansion of CSIS on the Committee's resources and on the Committee's ability to meet its obligations to Parliament and the people of Canada. Following this review, the Committee made a formal request to Treasury Board for a resource increase of 16 percent. Treasury Board approved the increase in December 2003, to be effective April 1, 2004. This provides SIRC with new financial resources commensurate with the Service's expansion in investigative activity. With the new funding we will expand our review and monitoring activities in the new fiscal year.

INQUIRIES UNDER THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PRIVACY ACTS

SIRC receives requests for information under both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Table 7 indicates the number of requests we have received under each of these acts for the past three fiscal years.

The Committee receives numerous Access to Information requests for each of its studies. The work required to prepare a report for public release need only be done once, but this benefits all who request the report. The Committee therefore waives the application fees for all requests for access to its studies.