Information about Canadian Security Intelligence Service

“CSIS” redirects here. For other uses, see CSIS (disambiguation).

Agency overview
Canadian Security Intelligence Service Service canadien du renseignement de sÃ©curitÃ©
Badge of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Badge of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Formed	June 21, 1984, by Act of Parliament (Bill C-9)
Preceding Agency	RCMP Security Service
Headquarters	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Minister Responsible	Hon. Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety
Agency Executive	Jim Judd, Director
Parent agency	Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (Canada)
Website
www.csis-scrs.gc.ca

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) (French: Service canadien du renseignement de sÃ©curitÃ©) (SCRS) is the primary intelligence agency of the Canadian government. It is responsible for collecting, monitoring, and analyzing intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, both within Canada and abroad.^[1]

Its headquarters are located at 1941 Ogilvie Road, in Ottawa, Ontario, in a purpose-built facility completed in 1995.^[2] CSIS is responsible to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety, but is also overseen by the Federal Court system, the Inspector General of Canada, and the Security Intelligence Review Committee.^[3]

History

CSIS was created on June 21, 1984 by an Act of Parliament passed as a consequence of the MacDonald Commission. Its de facto existence began on July 16 under the direction of Thomas D'Arcy Finn.^[4] Before this, Canadian intelligence was under the jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service. The making of RCMP began when Sir John A. Macdonald created the Western Frontier Constabulary in 1864.

Mission

CSIS Headquarters, Ottawa, Ontario

CSIS is Canada's lead agency for national security matters. It is a federal agency which conducts national security investigations and security intelligence collection at home and abroad. CSIS collects and analyzes intelligence and advises the Government of Canada on issues and activities that may threaten the security of Canada. CSIS also conducts security investigations and assessments for all applicants seeking a security clearance with federal departments and agencies (including applicants to the Department of National Defence), with the exception of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

There is no restriction in the CSIS Act on where CSIS may collect "security intelligence" or information relating to threats to the security of Canada. The agency may collect information on threats to Canada or Canadians from anywhere in the world. While CSIS is often viewed as a defensive security intelligence agency it is not a domestic agency. CSIS officers work domestically and internationally in their efforts to monitor and counter threats to Canadian security.

There is a distinct difference between "security intelligence" and "foreign intelligence". Security intelligence pertains to national security threats (e.g. terrorism, espionage). Foreign intelligence involves information collection relating to the political, or economic activities of foreign states. According to Section 16 of the CSIS Act, the agency collects this type of "foreign intelligence" within Canada.

CSIS is neither a police agency nor is it a part of the military. As an intelligence agency, the primary role of CSIS is not law enforcement. Investigation of criminal activity is left to the RCMP and local (regional or city) police agencies. CSIS collects intelligence, not evidence. CSIS, like its United Kingdom (Secret Intelligence Service) and United States (Central Intelligence Agency) counterparts, is a civilian agency. CSIS is subject to stringent review by the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) and an Inspector General (IG) as well as other legislative checks and balances. The agency carries out its functions in accordance with the CSIS Act, which governs and defines its powers and activities.

Canadian police, military agencies (see Intelligence Branch (Canadian Forces)), and numerous other government departments may maintain their own "intelligence" components (i.e. to analyze criminal intelligence or military strategic intelligence). The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade maintains a Security and Intelligence Bureau to review and analyze overtly acquired information. The bureau plays a coordinating and policy role. While not an intelligence agency, it is responsible for the security of the Department of Foreign Affairs personnel, physical assets and information systems in Canada and around the world. [1] However, this is not to be confused with the more encompassing work of larger, dedicated "intelligence agencies."

The Operational Programs of CSIS include:

Counter-terrorism
Counter-proliferation
Counter-intelligence
Security-screening
Research, Analysis and Production (creating strategy for the implementation of the Operational Programs)
Environmental scanning

see also: ECHELON

Facing Technological Challenges

CSIS works closely with the intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Under the post–World War II Quadpartite Pact all intelligence information is shared between the intelligence agencies of these four countries.

Permission to put a subject under surveillance is granted by the Target Approval and Review Committee.

Security Liaison Officers (SLOs) of CSIS are posted at Canadian embassies and consulates to gather security-related intelligence from other nations. This information may be gathered from other national intelligence agencies, law enforcement services and other sources. SLOs also assess potential immigrants to Canada for security issues.

Oversight

The activities of CSIS are regularly reviewed on behalf of Parliament by the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC). It is also under the portfolio of the federal Minister of Public Safety (Canada), whose Inspector General compiles an annual classified report on CSIS' operational activities for the Minister. Both SIRC and the CSIS IG have access to all CSIS information, classified and open, with the exception of Cabinet Confidences.

Controversies

CSIS has occasionally come under criticism, such as in the apparent bungling of the investigation into the 1985 Air India bombing. The Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182, headed by Mr. Justice John Major, is underway.

From 1988 to 1994, CSIS mole Grant Bristow infiltrated the Canadian white-supremacist movement; when the story became public knowledge, the press aired concerns that he had not only been one of the founders of the Heritage Front group, but that he had also channelled CSIS funding to this group.

In 1999, classified documents were stolen from the car of a CSIS employee who was attending a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game. The Security Intelligence Review Committee reportedly investigated this incident.^[5]^[6]

On September 18, 2006, the Arar Commission absolved CSIS of any involvement in the extraordinary rendition by the United States of Canadian citizen Maher Arar. The Commission found that U.S. authorities sent Arar to Jordan and then Syria (his homeland) based on incorrect information which had been provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to the U.S. government. Arar was held by the Syrians for one year and has claimed he was tortured. The sole criticism of CSIS levelled by the Commission was that the agency should do more to vet information provided by regimes which practice torture. In late 2006, the Government of Canada and Arar agreed to a $10 million (Canadian) settlement. Arar has filed suit against the U.S. government, and the matter is ongoing.

References

1. ^ [2]
2. ^ [3]
3. ^ [4]
4. ^ [5]
5. ^ Edited Hansard (Debates of the House of Commons of Canada), 36th Parliament, 2nd Session, Number 20, 15 November 1999, 1425 [6]
6. ^ Edited Hansard (Debates of the House of Commons of Canada), 36th Parliament, 2nd Session, Number 22, 17 November 1999, 1455 [7]

External links

Official website of CSIS
CSIS news archive at The Canadian Intelligence Resource Centre (CIRC)
38th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION contains a review about CSIS's and RCMP's role under the Anti-Terrorism Act

• • [ e] Domestic Intelligence Agencies of the World
ASIO ABW BfV CSIS FBI FSB IB IB ISD JITEM MI5 NIA NICA NIS Shin Bet SIS SRI VEVAK SISDE

• • [ e] External Intelligence Agencies of the World
ASIS CSIS DGI DGSE EYP BND RAW SAVAMA Mossad SISMI EAB NIA ISI NICA AW SIE GRU and SVR SASS MİT SIS CIA

Canadian Security Intelligence Service

Directors	Chiefs	Agents	Informants	Related agencies
Ted Finn Reid Morden Ray Protti Ward P.D. Elcock Dale Neufeld Jim Judd‡	Jack Hooper Luc Portelance Bob Gordon Jean-Claude Boton Eva Plunkett James S. Warren Mel Deschenes	David Ayre John Farrell Michel Juneau-Katsuya Raymond Kobzey Willy Laurie Larry Lowe Lynn McAdams	Santokh Bagga Grant Bristow Jim Moses Mubin Shaikh	Communications Security Establishment INSET Target Approval and Review Committee

_{‡ denotes an active agent, or one who is known to have been active in the past five years}

	Canadian Intelligence Agencies
Canada Border Services Agency \| Canadian Security Intelligence Service \| Communications Security Establishment

CSIS can stand for:

Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the service responsible for the intelligence operations of Canada
Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think tank in the United States

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RCMP Security Service was once responsible for intelligence and counterintelligence activities for Canada. It was replaced by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on the recommendation of the McDonald Commission, which was called in the wake of major scandals in the
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Hon. Stockwell Burt Day, Jr.
Minister of Public Safety

Incumbent
Riding Okanagan—Coquihalla
In office since September 11, 2000 by-election
Preceded by Jim Hart
Born July 16 1950
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The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (French: Ministre de la SÃ©curitÃ© publique et de la Protection civile) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's domestic security department,
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James "Jim" Judd (1947–) is a Canadian diplomat and intelligence agent. He is the current Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). He was appointed to the position by Prime Minister Paul Martin on November 29, 2004.
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Department Website Public Safety Canada, formerly known as Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, legally incorporated as the federal Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
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An intelligence agency is a governmental organization that for the purposes of national security is devoted to the gathering of information (known in the context as "intelligence") by means of espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other
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National security refers to the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power and the exercise of diplomacy.
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The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) is an independent agency of the government of Canada empowered to oversee and review the operations of Canada's security service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and investigate complaints against CSIS.
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