ISS > INDUSTRIAL SECURITY ADVISORY BOARD: ISAB MEETINGS > RECORD OF DISCUSSION - March 30, 2006

INDUSTRIAL SECURITY ADVISORY BOARD (ISAB)

RECORD OF DISCUSSION
Thursday, March 30, 2006
9:30 - 12:00
2745 Iris Street, 1st Floor Boardroom

Industry Associations

• Ron Kane
  Aerospace Industries Association of Canada
  
  
• Paul Gillissie
  Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (ACSESS)
  
  
• Joanne Stanley
  Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA)
  
  
• Mike O'Neil
  Canadian Business Information Network (CABiNET)
  
  
• Michael Atkinson
  Canadian Construction Association (CCA)
  
  
• Stan Jacobson
  Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI)
  
  
• Bill Munson
  Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC)
  
  
• Absent:
  
  Marv Sywyk
  Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA)
  
  Facility Operations and Maintenance Association of Canada (FOMAC)

Industrial Security Sector (ISS)
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC)

• Gerry Deneault
  Director General
  
  
• Albert Bissonnette
  A/Director, Canadian and International Industrial Security Directorate (CIISD)
  
  
• Peter Hull
  Director, Controlled Goods Directorate (CGD)
  
  
• Cynthia Armstrong
  Director, Program Harmonization and Services Directorate (PHSD)
  
  
• Michelle Tardif
  Manager, Strategic Planning and Performance Measurement, PHSD /Advisory Board Secretariat
  
  
• Observers:
  
  Rachelle Angus
  Manager, Business Transformation Project
  
  Pierre Gagne
  A/Manager, Operations Division, CGD
  
  Robert Dawson
  Manager, Personnel Security Screening, CIISD
  
  Virginia Zazulak
  A/Manager, Business Operations Division, PHSD
  
  Linda Stengel
  A/Manager, Inspections and Investigations Division
  
  Tita Cochrane
  Manager, Operations Division, CIISD

1. Welcome and Introduction:

Gerry Deneault welcomed members to the 3rd meeting of the Industrial Security Advisory Board and introduced several ISS Managers as those who would be following through on many of ISAB's recommendations.

2. Action Items Tracking Report:

Each item in the Action Item Tracking Report (from September 29th meeting) was discussed in detail. This discussion was the major focus of the meeting with discussions on separate Agenda items (Business Transformation, Update on ISS Activities) being interspersed, including:

• Strategic Steering Committee-Security (SSC-S):
  Members were apprised of the impetus behind the creation of this new committee to deal with government-wide strategic security issues and remove "silos". Membership on this TBS-PCO co-chaired committee includes select Directors General responsible for security in their respective departments and able to assume a leadership role on security issues. SSC-S will establish working groups to deal with specific issues including shared services and governance. Gerry indicated that he will bring ISAB’s concerns to the SSC-S and he will suggest that ISAB be one of the "clusters" feeding into SSC-S.
  
  
• Government Industrial Security Advisory Board (GISAB):
  Members were advised of the creation of this advisory board to provide a different industrial security perspective. A mirror organization to ISAB, and created by ISS as a result of ISAB deliberations, this committee includes representatives from 18 departments. GISAB will provide a forum for departments to discuss common government industrial security concerns and solutions, to look for ways to avoid duplication, to streamline and simplify the industrial security requirements of the Government of Canada, and to make it easier for industry to meet these requirements. It was agreed that the link to GISAB would be provided to ISAB members.
  
  
• Business Transformation Project:
  This project, which included a review of all ISS operations and their respective legislative and policy drivers, has been completed and a draft of the final report prepared. This report will be subject to a review by ISS management and priorities will be identified in terms of quick hits (i.e., ISS internal process and automation improvements) and longer term (regulatory/legislative or organizational) fixes. These recommendations are in keeping with recent ISAB discussions including priorities for the portability of clearances and CSO access to databases (see next item).
  
  
• Impact of process changes on industry:
  ISS sought member feedback on potential impact on industry if ISS follows through on several of the changes which are expected to reduce the administrative burden on companies doing business with ISS/government (e.g., expense of processing a clearance for an employee who subsequently moves to another company; administering such a file when no longer responsible for employee, etc.).
  
  ISAB membership agreed that potential impacts are considered the normal part of doing business and are similar to other business challenges (i.e., training employees who subsequently leave). As such, ISAB members feel that the changes proposed will result in an "overall benefit" or contribution to the common good outweighing minor company-specific impacts or inconveniences. ISAB representatives volunteered to support ISS by communicating the positive impacts of these types of changes with their respective memberships.
  
  
• Options for obtaining, maintaining and sharing clearances were discussed and proposed for future consideration, i.e., putting onus on individual to ensure clearance renewed (such as with Passports), providing an identification card similar to a driver's license.
  
  
• Working Group for Business Transformation:
  A Working Group will be established to consider recommendations such as these with: ISAB representatives; ISS reps (including International); PWGSC Legal Services, ATIP Office, and Acquisitions. An approach for dealing with these two issues will be examined and recommended at the next ISAB meeting.

3. Creation of Working Groups:

As a follow-up to a brief discussion at the ISAB meeting of September 29th, 2005, Peter Hull presented members with a proposal for establishing CGD and CIISD Working Groups to help review, develop and forward issues referred by ISAB. This will reduce the burden at ISAB meetings, allowing for more fulsome discussions of strategic issues.

It was agreed that the following working Groups will be established and will meet three times per year (either real time or secretarially) to discuss ISAB-directed issues, along with annual outreach plans and processes, manuals and regulations:

Contract Security Working Group:

• Chair: D/CIISD
• Members: 2 ISAB reps; 4 CIISD managers

Controlled Goods Working Group:

• Chair: D/CGD
• Members: 3 ISAB reps; CGD reps, ITCan and Industry Canada reps.

Chairs will provide summaries of progress against assigned action items at ISAB meetings while minutes will be distributed to all members.

It was agreed that an E-mail would be sent to ISAB members seeking participation in these Working Groups.

4. CGD On-line List of Registered Persons:

Peter Hull presented members with an overview of the CGD Online List of Registered Persons and explained concerns raised in the media recently regarding the availability of this information on the Internet. CGD provided several options for countering: moving list onto a more secure environment; include only legal and business names and expiry date; expanding consent to include business information. ISAB members agreed that this matter would be the first item referred to the new Controlled Goods Working Group.

5. Round Table:

• Identification of Security Community:
  Concern was expressed regarding the lack and inaccessibility of clear information on the roles and responsibilities of various security and intelligence organizations in the government. It was agreed that many silos exist in the government security community and that there is a definite need to make it easier for industry to find answers and reach the proper players. As such, ISS/Peter Hull agreed to develop a vehicle/map (link to ISS' website) to allow companies to easily find information on security-related functions in government and to identify those responsible for the functions. Peter will discuss with others departments and begin creating such a vehicle.
  
  
• Nomenclature:
  In line with the above, discussion took place on whether the name of ISAB committee is truly representative of the scope of the committee or whether it should be more limited, e.g., PWGSC ISAB. Members agreed that the name is appropriate while changes may restrict the role. As such, Gerry Deneault indicated that he is willing to champion any industrial security concerns up to the SSC-S and to increase awareness of IS issues.
  
  
• Confirmation of right direction:
  Several members confirmed that they see positive results from the efforts ISS has been expending over the past year to make the organization more accessible and dependable. Joanne Stanley indicated that she would forward some positive comments she recently received from one of her members to ISS.

Next Meeting:

Thursday, June 22, 2006
9:00 - 12:00
2745 Iris Street 1st Floor Boardroom

Joint ISAB-GISAB Meeting:
October 2006 - date to be determined.
8:30 - 12:00
Outaouais Room
Place du Portage, Phase IV