{"id":428,"date":"2000-01-11T19:58:25","date_gmt":"2000-01-12T00:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/?p=428"},"modified":"2015-02-23T01:14:22","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T06:14:22","slug":"who-is-watching-the-watchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/who-is-watching-the-watchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why more CSIS oversight is not enough"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Among Canadian politicians, the debate over a sweeping new anti-terror bill has focused on parliamentary oversight.\u00a0Both New Democrat and Liberal MPs say Bill C-51 should be amended to let a committee of parliamentarians, sworn to secrecy, monitor Canada\u2019s intelligence agencies. \u00a0They note that other countries, such as Britain and the U.S., do this. \u00a0Implicit in their argument is an assumption that legislative oversight deters powerful security services from engaging in illegal or improper activities. \u00a0But does it? The evidence is not heartening. \u00a0In fact, most legislative oversight committees have limited authority<\/strong>. Those with greater powers, such as the U.S. Senate and House intelligence committees have, in many cases, given their imprimatur to dubious security practices.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star Feb. 4th 2015<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Already, there is\u00a0almost no\u00a0oversight of CSIS. \u00a0The\u00a0Conservatives recently eliminated \u00a0the inspector general of CSIS. \u00a0Few people\u00a0have\u00a0even heard of this office.<\/div>\n
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Currently, CSIS has only the after-the-fact overview by of the Security and Intelligence Review Committee or SIRC. SIRC has no jurisdiction over Communications Security Establishment Canada, the notorious intelligence division which does mass electronic wiretapping.\u00a0\u00a0SIRC`s critics say it has been shown at the very least to exclude Parliament and be ”totally ineffective.”<\/div>\n
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A better description would probably be: ”totally complicit.”<\/div>\n
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For example, in January of this year, former Tory MP Chuck Strall resigned from the SIRC because it was revealed he was also an Enbridge lobbyist for the Northern Gateway Pipeline.<\/div>\n
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CSIS apparently works with oil and gas companies like Enbridge to provide strategic information to them about pipeline opponents.\u00a0\u00a0To investigate alleged spying on environmental activists last September, SIRC\u00a0appointed businessman and lawyer\u00a0Yves Fortier<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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But, as the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association\u00a0quickly noted, Fortier\u00a0sat on the board of TransCanada Pipelines \u2014 the company behind the Keystone XL project.<\/div>\n
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Current members SIRC are:<\/div>\n
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