2001-2002 Activities

Anti-terrorism legislation

As Parliamentarians considered the Anti-terrorism Act last autumn, they sought my views on the parts of the legislation dealing with CSE and the CSE Commissioner. I appeared in October 2001 before the Special Senate Committee on the Subject Matter of Bill C-36, and in November I submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The texts of my opening remarks to the Senate Committee and my brief to the House of Commons Committee are available on my Office's website at http://ocsec-bccst.gc.ca.

Since the passage of the legislation, my staff and I have focused on my new responsibilities. Most significantly, I began preparations early in 2002 to launch my first review of CSE's activities under Ministerial authorization issued by the Minister of National Defence. I will be reporting the results to the Minister later this year.

Between the passage of the legislation and the end of the 2001-2002 fiscal year, I received no requests to consider concerns about the activities of CSE from persons seeking to establish a public interest defence under the Security of Information Act as it relates to the disclosure of special operational information.

Classified reports

My mandate authorizes me to submit classified reports to the Minister about CSE's activities. Since my appointment in 1996, I have submitted 19 such reports, including two in 2001-2002, and two others were nearing completion at year's end. The inquiries I made to produce these reports revealed no evidence of unlawful activity by CSE. A complete list of the classified reports I have submitted to the Minister can be found in Annex B.

Complaints

During 2001-2002, I received one complaint from a member of the public concerning CSE. I reviewed this complaint and determined that no further action was required.

2001-2002 findings

Each year in this report I state my findings about the lawfulness of CSE's activities based upon the results of a series of reviews. These reviews include, but are not limited to, an examination of the legal authorities under which CSE conducts its activities as well as related policies and practices.

I am able to report that I am satisfied that those CSE activities examined during the period under review complied with law and existing policy. Further, I found no evidence that CSE targeted the communications of Canadian citizens or permanent residents.