The Commissioner's Office

I am supported in my work by a full-time staff of eight. Their extensive experience in the security and intelligence community is supplemented by subject matter experts in areas such as informatics, technology, research, policy development and communications, with whom my office contracts as required.

Many of my office's interests and concerns are shared by other Canadian security and intelligence review agencies. As Justice O'Connor noted, in 2006-2007 my staff initiated the Review Agencies Forum, which brings them together at regular intervals with the staffs of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, the Office of the Inspector General of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP. In 2006-2007, the Forum met twice to discuss issues such as the recommendations of Justice O'Connor's Policy Review report, and amendments to the Public Servants Disclosure Act resulting from the new Federal Accountability Act (Bill C-2). In addition, Forum participants discussed how to provide their respective agencies with reasonable turnaround times in responding to reviews, and the different approaches that have been used when delays are encountered.

My staff also participated in other conferences and symposia that provided them with new perspectives on their work, including the International Intelligence Review Agencies Conference in Cape Town, which I described above, and the conferences of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS) and the Ontario Bar Association. In addition, as a developmental opportunity, my office hosted two promising students at the CASIS conference.

In 2006-2007, there were some 96,000 visits to my website.

While my office does not have a formal educational mandate, I do believe it is important that Canadians know about OCSEC's work. To this end, my office hosts a website (www.ocsec-bccst.gc.ca) that describes OCSEC's mandate and activities. Visits to the site originating from outside North America span a global audience ranging from Europe to Asia and the Middle East. In 2006-2007, there were some 96,000 visits to my website.

In 2006-2007, my office's expenditures were $1,267,612, which was well within budget for the period. Annex C to this report provides a summary of 2006-2007 expenditures.