Question Period Note: Report about the review of GAC's national security and intelligence activities

On November 4, 2022, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians tabled in Parliament its Special Report on GAC's National Security and Intelligence Activities.

• My department plays a key role in the Canadian national security and intelligence community, a role that we take very seriously.
• As I sated in a written response to the NSICOP Chair last week, I welcome and agree with all of the Committee's recommendations. I have instructed my officials to start implementing all recommendations and provide me with frequent updates.
• In order to further enhance accountability, governance, and transparency of our national security and intelligence activities, I have instructed my department to fully implement the recommendations and provide me with regular updates.

On November 4, 2022, an unclassified redacted version of the Special Report on the National Security and Intelligence Activities of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) produced by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) was tabled in Parliament. NSICOP is a multi-party committee composed of ten Members of Parliament and Senators, who are nominated by the Prime Minister. Its role is to conduct strategic reviews focussed on the effectiveness of the Government's national security activities with a view to enhance the transparency and inform Parliament and Canadians about those activities.

NSICOP's report is the first detailed public account of GAC's national security and intelligence (S&I) activities. The review covers the period of January 2015 to July 2021. It presents an overview of the nature and scope of GAC's S&I activities, including responding to critical incidents, international security programming, addressing hostile activities by state actors and providing a foreign policy coherence function within Canada's S&I community. NSICOP issued five findings and four recommendations where it recommends GAC to put in place enhanced comprehensive accountability and governance mechanisms to improve departmental processes, including with other government departments, on S&I matters. Over the past year, GAC has began to introduce new governance mechanisms and improved processes in a manner that addresses NSICOP's findings and recommendations.

The version of the report tabled in Parliament and release to the public is heavily redacted to ensure that information injurious to national security, international relations and national defence is protected. The publication of the report did not garner significant media attention. It is expected that it will receive attention from the academia and opposition parties.

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