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Annual Report 2007-2008 - An Operational Review of CSIS Activities
Section 3: About SIRC
Committee membership
SIRC is chaired by the Honourable Gary Filmon, P.C., O.M., who was appointed on June 24, 2005. The other Members are the Honourable Raymond Speaker, P.C., O.C., and the Honourable Roy Romanow, P.C., O.C., Q.C.
The term of the Honourable Baljit S. Chadha, P.C. ended on February 20, 2008. On April 22, 2008, the Honourable Aldéa Landry, P.C., C.M., Q.C. tendered her resignation from SIRC.
All Members of SIRC are Privy Councillors who are appointed by the Governor-in-Council after consultation by the Prime Minister with the leaders of the Opposition parties.
In addition to attending monthly committee meetings, members preside over complaints hearings, prepare reviews and complaint reports in consultation with SIRC staff, visit CSIS regional offices, address parliamentary committees and exercise other duties associated with their responsibilities.
Staffing and organization
SIRC is supported by an Executive Director, Susan Pollak, and an authorized staff complement of 20, located in Ottawa. The staff comprises a Senior Counsel, a Senior Advisor, a Corporate Services Manager, Counsel, a Senior Paralegal (who also serves as Access to Information and Privacy Officer/Analyst), plus researchers and administrative staff.
Committee Members provide staff with direction on research and other activities that are identified as a priority for the year. Management of day-to-day operations is delegated to the Executive Director with direction, when necessary, from the Chair as Chief Executive Officer.
As part of their ongoing work, the Chair of SIRC, Committee Members and senior staff participate in regular discussions with CSIS executive and staff, and other senior members of the security intelligence community.
These exchanges are supplemented by discussions with academics, security and intelligence experts and other relevant organizations. These activities enrich SIRC’s knowledge about issues and opinions affecting national security intelligence.
SIRC staff also visits CSIS regional offices on a rotating basis to examine how Ministerial Direction and CSIS policy affect the day-to-day work of investigators in the field. These visits give Committee Members an opportunity to be briefed by regional CSIS staff on local issues, challenges and priorities. It is also an opportunity to communicate SIRC’s focus and concerns.
During the 2007-08 fiscal year, SIRC staff visited two regional offices.
Committee activities
May 23-25, 2007: The Honourable Roy Romanow and Senior Counsel were speakers at a symposium marking the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms entitled “A Living Tree: The Legacy of 1982 in Canada’s Political Evolution,” hosted by the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy.
June 7-8, 2007: The Chair, the Executive Director and a Member of SIRC attended the International Intelligence Review Agencies symposium on accountability of intelligence and security agencies and human rights. The Chair delivered a speech to participants at this event, which was hosted by the Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services and the Faculty of Law at Radboud University (Netherlands).
June 10-12, 2007: The Chair, Members, the Executive Director and selected staff attended the International Conference on the Administration of Justice and National Security in Democracies, hosted in Ottawa by the Federal Court of Canada.
June 14, 2007: The Executive Director and senior staff met with the Australian Inspector General.
June 18, 2007: The Executive Director, accompanied by senior staff, appeared before the Senate Standing Committee to describe SIRC’s role and powers as a review body and quasi-judicial complaints tribunal.
September 20-21, 2007: The Executive Director attended a conference in Ottawa, entitled “Protecting Security and Human Rights: The Case of Migration in Canada,” hosted by the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
November 13, 2007 and March 31, 2008: At Carleton University, the Executive Director lectured on SIRC’s role and mandate to students of a course on National Security and Intelligence in the Modern State.
November 28, 2007: The Executive Director and senior staff met with officials from the Norwegian Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee.
November 30-December 2, 2007: The Executive Director was a panellist at a conference hosted by the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s Committee on Diversity and Policing. The conference was entitled “Balance between Security, Human Rights and Accountability.”
January 23, 2008: The Senior Counsel was a guest lecturer on National Security Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa.
Budget and expenditures
SIRC continues to manage its activities within allocated resource levels. Staff salaries and travel within Canada for Committee hearings, briefings and review activities represent its chief expenditures. Table 8 below presents a breakdown of estimated and actual expenditures.
| Estimates | Actual | |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel | $1,900,000 | $1,844,000 |
| Goods and Services | $1,000,000 | $781,000 |
| Total | $2,900,000 | $2,626,000 |
Inquiries under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act
The public may make requests to SIRC under both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Table 9 outlines the number of requests SIRC has received under these acts for the past three fiscal years.
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to Information Act | 17 | 12 | 15 |
| Privacy Act | 5 | 2 | 2 |