Canadian Security Intelligence Service
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|---|---|---|---|
| State level | Federal level | ||
| Position of the authority | Intelligence service | ||
| Supervisory authority (s) | Public Safety Canada | ||
| Consist | since June 21, 1984 | ||
| Headquarters | Ottawa , Ontario | ||
| Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service | David Vigneault | ||
| Employee | 2449 | ||
| Website | www.canada.ca/en/security-intelligence-service.html | ||
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service ( CSIS ) or Service Canadien de Renseignement de Sécurité ( SCRS ) is the most important civil intelligence service of the Canadian government. It is based in Ottawa and reports to the Department of Public Safety Canada.
history
Until 1984 the secret service was not formally separated from the police authorities. The first predecessor organization with intelligence activities was the Western Frontier Constabulary , which was founded in 1864 as a unit of the Dominion Police . After the establishment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920, it took over the duties of espionage and security. After the expansion of activities during the Cold War and the threat of the terrorist Front de liberation du Québec , two government-appointed commissions recommended separating the secret service from the police in 1969 and 1977. The new intelligence service was established by the CSIS Act of 1984.
tasks
The task of the CSIS is to ensure the national security of Canada and its citizens through preventive intelligence measures. This includes collecting and analyzing information on threats, international cooperation with secret services of allied states, reporting to the Canadian government, processing security inquiries about people in security-critical areas of activity of the government or about immigration applicants as well as public awareness-raising work to prevent industrial espionage.
In detail, the tasks include:
- Counter-terrorism (anti-terrorism)
- Counter-proliferation
- Counter-intelligence (counterintelligence)
- Security screening (security maintenance )
- Environmental scanning
Regional offices are located in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Burnaby. CSIS also has district offices in St. John's, Fredericton, Quebec City, Niagara Falls, Windsor, Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary.
Legal basis
The most important legal basis for the intelligence service is the CSIS Act of 1984. It defines its tasks and limits them to measures to avert national security risks. The CSIS is monitored by the Minister of Public Safety Canada , who is responsible to Parliament, as well as the Inspector General and the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), who monitor the activities of the CSIS, deal with complaints and largely have access to all information. Intrusive surveillance measures must be approved by the Federal Court . Once a year, Parliament is informed through the Minister's Annual Statement on National Security , and the public through the CSIS Public Report . In November 2016, a federal court ruled that a collection of metadata that had been in place since 2006 had taken place without a legal basis: CSIS had arbitrarily interpreted the need for data too generously.
See also
Web links
- Official website (English, French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.canada.ca/en/security-intelligence-service/corporate/director.html
- ↑ "... had CSIS made the courts fully aware of its metadata collection and retention program in 2006, or in any year during the intervening decade, the courts would have set clearer limits" ( http://motherboard.vice.com/ read / how-bureaucrats-and-spies-turned-canada-into-a-surveillance-state-csis )