Activities of the Office

The office's work on reviews requires a strong foundation, not only in its legislative authority and the technical and broadly based knowledge and skills of reviewers, but also in the government's understanding of the office's role and the public's understanding of the office's findings. The office's outreach, networking and learning activities strengthen its ability to deliver on the Commissioner's mandate.

Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence

This year, the Commissioner appeared twice before the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence. His first appearance, in April 2015, was in relation to hearings being held on the Anti-terrorism Act 2015 (Bill C-51), which was passed into law by Parliament under the previous government on June 9, 2015. Part 1 of the Bill, the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act, allows the sharing of information with the 17 specified Government of Canada institutions. The Commissioner advised the Committee that he had written to the Chair of the House of Commons committee examining this Bill, questioning why the existing review bodies were not also given explicit authority to share information among themselves. In reiterating his position stated in the letter, the Commissioner emphasized the importance of pairing the expansion of authorities governing information sharing among law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies with an expansion of the ability of the respective review bodies to share and cooperate. He advised the Committee that the law should explicitly authorize cooperation between the office, the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) and the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC).

Part 4 of Bill C-51 added measures to reduce threats to the security of Canada that were proposed for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). These measures have a direct impact on SIRC, which will review CSIS's performance in that regard. The Commissioner advised the Committee that these measures may also affect the office: it is possible that CSIS might request assistance from CSE in taking measures to reduce threats to the security of Canada and that CSE could provide technical and operational assistance to CSIS. The impact on the office of the Part 4 measures is unknown. However, should CSIS and CSE cooperate under these provisions, the Commissioner will monitor whether the office's resources need to be increased as a result.

The Commissioner's second appearance before the Committee in February 2016 addressed questions the Committee had concerning the 2014–2015 public annual report. (Because of the federal election call last summer, the report was not tabled in Parliament until this past January.) The Commissioner's remarks to the Committee dealt with the important issues that arose in the reviews conducted during the 2014–2015 fiscal year. The unclassified summary of these reviews can be found in the 2014–2015 Annual Report on the office's website.

Outreach, learning and networking

In April 2015 and in March 2016, the Commissioner spoke to University of Ottawa law students on the office's mandate and role. Throughout the year, he also continued to meet with a number of review colleagues in Canada and other senior government officials.

Once again, the office delivered presentations about its work to new CSE employees as part of CSE's foundational learning curriculum. As well, several office employees attended courses at CSE, which provided them with the same fundamental information given to CSE employees. The office in-house counsel spoke to graduate students of the University of Sherbrooke on the Commissioner's authorities and activities.

The office in-house counsel and Executive Director attended privacy and security conferences in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., in November and February. Office staff also attended conferences throughout the year dealing with international affairs, information technology security, national security, privacy and cyber security. These conferences were held by such organizations as the Canadian Defence Industries Association, International Association of Privacy Professionals, Canadian Military Intelligence Association, and the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies. Such events help employees to keep abreast of issues related to security, intelligence and privacy.

The office continued to provide support to the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society (TSAS), initiated by a number of university academics.

Consulting with Canadian review bodies

The Review Agencies Forum is a meeting of representatives of the office, SIRC, CRCC, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. This forum provides an opportunity to compare best practices in review methodologies and to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. The forum met in September and March. In March, the Forum extended an invitation to senior government officials from the Privy Council Office and the Department of Public Safety who discussed ideas and approaches to ensuring accountability and cooperation.

The Commissioner continued to meet with the Chair of SIRC for general discussions regarding cooperation between the two organizations and the respective executive directors regularly discuss the coordination of basic elements of reviews of mutual concern involving both CSE and CSIS. As noted in the review section, several matters involving CSIS that arose during the review of joint activities of CSE and CSIS were referred to SIRC for any follow-up it deemed appropriate. Senior officials of the office, SIRC and CRCC also met to discuss further possibilities for cooperation and to exchange views on issues related to review of intelligence and security agencies.

The Commissioner met with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Daniel Therrien, several times during the past year. Mr. Therrien and his provincial counterparts have a much broader area of responsibility, in terms of covering all public as well as private sector institutions within their respective jurisdictions, whereas the CSE Commissioner's mandate deals exclusively with CSE compliance and privacy protection.

Consulting with review bodies of other countries

In November, the Executive Director met with the visiting Senior Advisor of the Norwegian Oversight Committee to discuss review in general, including scope and methodologies. The office also had contact and exchanges with a number of review bodies in other countries.