Backgrounder
National Security Committee of Parliamentarians
The proposal to establish a National Security Committee of Parliamentarians
was announced by the Prime Minister in December 2003 and subsequently incorporated into Ethics,
Responsibility, Accountability: An Action Plan for Democratic Reform.
The proposal was also reiterated in Securing an Open Society:
Canada’s National Security Policy, released in April 2004, which sets out
a broad, integrated vision of national security, reflecting the evolving nature
of threats and an integrated strategy and action plan designed to address these
threats. The Policy includes
initiatives in six areas, including intelligence, emergency planning and
management, public health emergencies, transportation security, border security
and international security.
An
Interim Committee of Parliamentarians on National Security was set up last year
to make recommendations to the Deputy Prime Minister on the composition and
mandate of such a committee. The Government tabled details of its proposed model
in Parliament in April 2005 and is now proceeding with introduction of
legislation based on this model.
Key Elements of the Proposed Legislation
Committee
and Members
The legislation establishes a National Security Committee of
Parliamentarians. Membership of the Committee would include up to nine
Parliamentarians, with representation from both the Senate and the House of
Commons, and from both the Government and the opposition.
Members from opposition Parties would be appointed by the Prime Minister after
consultation with the leader of the individual’s Party.
Mandate
of the Committee
The
mandate of the proposed National Security Committee of Parliamentarians would be
to review the legislative, regulatory, policy and administrative framework for
national security in
Canada
and
activities of the federal departments and agencies relating to national
security. Furthermore, the Committee could review specific national security
matters referred to it by the Government.
Provision
of Information
Ministers would provide the Committee with the information required to
fulfill its mandate.
However, safeguards would be in place to ensure the protection of
information. The Minister providing
the information may set out conditions on its use.
Ministers would be required to consult the Chair of the Committee if they
were of the opinion that they are not in a position to provide all the
information requested by the Committee.
Ministers would be able to restrict or impose conditions on the provision
of certain types of information to the Committee, notably:
Security and
Confidentiality
Committee members would be required to take and comply with an oath of
loyalty to
Canada
, which includes a promise
not to disclose information obtained in confidence.
Members of the Committee could not claim immunity based on parliamentary
privilege for the use or communication of information they obtain as members of
the Committee. They would also be
persons permanently bound to secrecy under the Security
of Information Act.
Information would be handled in accordance with security procedures,
policies and standards established by the Government.
The Committee would be supported by security-cleared staff from within
the Government’s security and intelligence community, and would hold meetings
in secure facilities. They would
hold meetings in camera to discuss sensitive information.
Reports
The Committee would submit a report each year to the Prime Minister who,
in turn, would table it in Parliament. After
consultation with the Chair of the Committee, prior to tabling, the Prime
Minister could exclude from reports any information that would be injurious to
national security, national defence, or international relations.
Integrating
with Existing Review Bodies
Although the Committee would be encouraged to discuss issues with other
review bodies, the mandate of the proposed National Security Committee of
Parliamentarians would not duplicate the role of existing or new independent
review bodies. These bodies would continue to perform their roles of ensuring
that Canadian laws and the rights of Canadians are respected. Those review
bodies include:
-
the Security
Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), which is an independent, external review
body which reports to Parliament on the operations of the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service (CSIS). SIRC
was established under the CSIS Act (1984)
to provide assurance to Canadians that CSIS is complying with law, policy and
Ministerial Direction in the performance of its duties and functions. SIRC
conducts in-depth reviews of past operations of the Service and each review can
include findings or recommendations. Another
role of SIRC is to investigate complaints about the Service and about denials of
security clearances to federal government employees and contractors. SIRC also
has the authority to conduct investigations into matters referred to it pursuant
to the Canadian Human Rights Act and
the Citizenship Act;
-
the
Communications Security Establishment Commissioner, also independent, which is
mandated to review the activities of the Communications Security Establishment
(CSE) for compliance with the law and to advise the Minister of National Defence
and the Attorney General of Canada of any CSE activity that the Commissioner
believes may not be in compliance with the law.
The Commissioner’s mandate, which is set out in Part V.1 of the National
Defence Act, also includes investigating complaints by citizens, including
CSE employees, or permanent residents of Canada about the lawfulness of CSE
activities; and
-
the Commission
for Public Complaints against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (CPC), which is
an independent body established by Parliament in 1988 to provide civilian review
of the conduct of members of the
RCMP. The mandate of the CPC, set
out in Part VII of the RCMP Act, is to
receive complaints from the public about the conduct of RCMP members; to conduct
review when complainants and not satisfied with the RCMP’s handling of their
complaints; to hold hearings and investigations; and to report findings and
recommendations aimed at identifying, correcting and preventing recurring
policing problems.
The
Government has also asked Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor to make recommendations
on an independent, arm’s-length
review mechanism for the activities of the RCMP with respect to national
security, based on an examination of domestic and international review models,
as well as an assessment of how such a mechanism would interact with existing
review bodies. These recommendations
are expected to be received by
March 31, 2006
.
Building
on International Examples
The Government’s proposal represents a made-in-Canada approach and
builds upon the experience of similar review bodies in other parliamentary
democracies, notably the United Kingdom (U.K),
Australia
and
New Zealand
.
The experience in the
U.K.
, for instance, shows that
its Intelligence and Security Committee serves as a trusted and effective
accountability mechanism and is an asset for the effective management of the
national security system. The
Government's proposed model for
Canada
integrates many of the
features of that committee.
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