NSICOP turns focus onto CBSA administration

Having recently published its first annual report, in which it called on the government to “consider providing explicit legislative authority for the conduct of defence intelligence activities”, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) is moving on with other studies.

In his latest householder mailing to his Ottawa South constituents, NSICOP Chairman and Liberal MP David McGuinty says that the committee’s 2019 activities include an assessment of the Canada Border Service Agency’s security and intelligence (S&I) activities in support of the enforcement and administration of immigration and customs laws. It also will examine the CBSA’s interaction with other government agencies at home and abroad.

This will be followed by a study of what McGuinty describes as “issues of diversity and inclusion” in the domestic S&I community, a project the committee expects will take three years and include meetings with officials to identify best practices and areas for improvement.

NSICOP’s other 2019 activities will include a look at how the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces collect, use, retain and disseminate information on Canadians. Its findings and recommendations will be the focus of a special report to the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister.

“Our planned reviews [...] will continue to build a picture of the various parts of the security and intelligence community and how they work together to protect our security, our freedoms and our institutions,” McGuinty says.