According to a statement from The Honourable Ralph Goodale PC, MP, the Minister of Public Safety, Canada is going to be looking at creating a national security committee — to oversee the work of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and other Canadian agencies with intelligence powers — based on the version used in the United Kingdom, which has never had a leak.
The previous Government, under the Conservatives, had resisted creating a parliamentary committee to oversee the work of national intelligence agencies, on the basis that politicians, themselves, should not be actively involved in the review process. However, some of Canada's key colleagues in the Commonwealth endorse the model, and the Minister described Canada as "the odd man out."
The model, if it closely follows the United Kingdom model, might then look like a nine-person parliamentary committee, consisting of senators and members of the House of Commons; members would be nominated by the Prime Minister, in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, but would explicitly exclude ministers.
The committee would probably have the responsibility of overseeing "the expenditure, administration, policy, and operations" of CSIS, the intelligence functions of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the intelligence bureaus in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Communications Security Establishment, and the Department of National Defence's security and intelligence functions.
Source: Liberals to model new national security committee after U.K. version (National Post)
The previous Government, under the Conservatives, had resisted creating a parliamentary committee to oversee the work of national intelligence agencies, on the basis that politicians, themselves, should not be actively involved in the review process. However, some of Canada's key colleagues in the Commonwealth endorse the model, and the Minister described Canada as "the odd man out."
The model, if it closely follows the United Kingdom model, might then look like a nine-person parliamentary committee, consisting of senators and members of the House of Commons; members would be nominated by the Prime Minister, in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, but would explicitly exclude ministers.
The committee would probably have the responsibility of overseeing "the expenditure, administration, policy, and operations" of CSIS, the intelligence functions of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the intelligence bureaus in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Communications Security Establishment, and the Department of National Defence's security and intelligence functions.
Source: Liberals to model new national security committee after U.K. version (National Post)
