Category: Canadian Security Intelligence Service

Watchdog’s Relations With Spy Community ‘Particularly Strained’ Over Last Year

Newly released documents say the intelligence community’s relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a “level of resistance” to scrutiny. The assessment appears in briefing materials prepared for Canada’s top public servant in advance of a late January meeting with the chair of the National Security and…


CSIS Warns ‘Smart City’ Technology Can Open Door to Attacks, Foreign Interference

Canada’s intelligence service warns that technological innovations adopted by municipalities could be exploited by adversaries such as the Chinese government to harvest sensitive data, target diaspora communities and interfere in elections. A newly released report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service urges policy-makers and the technology industry to consider steps that can be taken to…


CSIS Definition of Security Threat Irrelevant to Cabinet Decision, Ex-directors Say

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s interpretation of what constitutes a national security threat is not relevant when it comes to a government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, two of the spy agency’s former directors testified at a national inquiry Wednesday. Ward Elcock, who led CSIS from 1994 to 2004, and Richard Fadden, who led…


Chief Electoral Officer Asked by MPs About Reports of China Funding at Least 11 Candidates

Canada’s chief electoral officer says he did not receive any reports of Beijing interfering with the 2019 federal election when asked by MPs during his testimony before the Commons House Affairs committee (PROC) on Nov. 22. “I’ve not received any reports regarding specific instances of noncompliance with the legislation or specific instances of Chinese interference…


Address Foreign Interference in ‘Meaningful Way’ or Lose Public Trust: Tory Senator

A Conservative senator says it’s time Canada tackles the issue of foreign interference in a “meaningful way,” for any effort contrary to that will only lead to the public losing trust in the country’s institutions. “Canada’s intelligence agencies have long been warning about this threat of malign foreign influence toward our democracy and our society,”…


Judge Gives Canada‘s Spy Agency Go-ahead to Use New Overseas Investigative Powers

OTTAWA—For the first time, a federal judge has expressly granted Canada’s spy agency warrants to operate abroad even if it means breaking another country’s laws. Federal Court Justice Simon Noel authorized warrants for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service five months ago, but public reasons for the top secret decision were issued only this week. The…


CSIS Mandate: Expand Scope to Allow Intel Gathering Abroad, Says Intelligence Expert

A court decision that nixed an effort by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to expand its scope in collecting foreign intelligence raises the question of whether the service’s mandate should be changed to meet the needs of an evolving landscape, says a former CSIS analyst and expert on terrorism. CSIS’s request to be able to…


Spy Chief Says China Is Bent on Stealing Canadian Secrets, Silencing Critics

OTTAWA—The head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns that China is undermining Canada through its efforts to steal valuable technology and silence critics of Beijing’s policies. In a speech Tuesday sponsored by the Centre for International Governance Innovation, CSIS director David Vigneault said all sectors of Canadian society must work together to fend off…


Judge Denies CSIS Request to Collect Foreign Intelligence

OTTAWA—A court has put the brakes on a Canadian Security Intelligence Service request to collect foreign information, ruling a proposed technique would stray beyond the spy service’s legal mandate. The service was seeking court warrants so it could gather intelligence in other countries, from a location inside Canada, to at the request of an unnamed…