Commentary According to popular wisdom, Sir Robert Peel created the first modern municipal police force in London in 1829. Yes, there were other law enforcement-type bodies well before that, but the idea of having an organized body of men (they were all men at first) to patrol the streets and investigate/prevent crime was new for…
Chinese ‘Police Stations’ in Canada Amounts to the Presence of a Hostile Foreign Power in Our Front Yard
It’s Beyond Time Politicians Began Paying Serious Attention to Foreign Interference in Canada
Commentary Just how big does a security threat have to be before we start to worry? I have a confession to make. Yes, it is true, I’ve been a huge fan of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” ever since I watched the 1981 TV series. This irreverent, clever look at the adventures of…
Was the Invocation of the Emergencies Act Justified? A Look at Core Issues Raised During the Public Hearings
News Analysis The public hearings phase of the Emergencies Act inquiry came to a close on Nov. 25 with testimony from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Commissioner Paul Rouleau is now hearing from expert witnesses in the lead-up to issuing his report in February, which will address whether the Trudeau government was justified in declaring a…
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…
‘Economic Harm’ No Ground for National Emergency, Says Civil Liberties Group After Freeland’s Testimony
A civil liberties advocacy group says that “economic harm” is not grounds to declare a national emergency, in reaction to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s testimony at the Emergencies Act inquiry on Nov. 24. “The Emergencies Act and the CSIS act do not contemplate economic harm as a national emergency,” said Cara Zwibel of the…
Trudeau’s Response to Chinese Interference: Why Create Intelligence Assessments If No One Reads Them?
Commentary While it is true that intelligence services have a murky reputation—all that cloak and dagger stuff—in reality what they do is not all that complicated. As to how they do it, well that is another matter. The most closely held secret within these organizations is what we call “sources and methods,” and these are…
Trudeau’s Intelligence Advisor Differs From CSIS and RCMP on Convoy Protests as a National Security Threat
The prime minister’s advisor on intelligence matters told the Public Order Emergency Commission on Nov. 17 that she believed the protests and blockades of last winter represented a national security threat, taking a different position than the heads of CSIS and the RCMP. “The public order emergency is assigned meaning by the CSIS Act but…
‘No Serious Violence in Ottawa’: RCMP Internal Email on Freedom Convoy Protest
An internal email from a senior RCMP officer acknowledged that there was “no serious violence in Ottawa” related to the Freedom Convoy protest—an assessment that differs from that of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. The email by Deputy Commissioner Brian Brennan to Commissioner Brenda Lucki on Feb. 21 noted that the Emergencies Act (EA) was…
CSIS Director Says Convoy Protests Were at No Point Deemed a National Security Threat Under the Law
The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) will testify at the Emergencies Act inquiry in the coming weeks that his agency did not consider the anti-COVID-19 restrictions’ protests of last winter a national security threat under the legislation that established the agency, according to a summary of his interview conducted earlier with the…
Invoking Emergencies Act Will Increase ‘Extreme Anti-Government Views,’ CSIS Told Liberal Ministers
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) told the Liberal government a day before it invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 that doing so would probably end the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, but at the same time it would lead to the radicalization of an increased number of individuals. “On February 13th, CSIS advised…
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