ARCHIVED: Backgrounder No. 8 - Counter-Terrorism

Revised June 2007

The Service’s number one priority

Ensuring the safety and security of Canadians is one of the Government of Canada’s most important responsibilities. With this in mind, the government has identified counter-terrorism as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) number one priority.

What is CSIS’ counter-terrorism role?

The Service’s role is to: forewarn and advise the Government of Canada of potential threats, with the goal of preventing terrorist acts from being planned and/or carried out in Canada and from affecting Canadians abroad. It does this by investigating, collecting and analysing information and providing timely information and advice to law enforcement and government decision-makers.

Are terrorists active in Canada?

Like many other Western democracies, Canada has its share of individuals who support the use of violence to achieve their political goals. Their activities are often linked to conflicts around the globe and typically include: planning or helping to plan terrorist attacks in Canada or abroad; providing a Canadian base for terrorist supporters; fundraising; lobbying through front organizations; obtaining weapons and matériel; finally, coercing and manipulating immigrant communities.

Canada has not been immune to the more recent phenomenon of “homegrown terrorism,” which refers to the sometimes rapid indoctrination and radicalization of young Canadians into the violent ideology espoused and inspired by Al Qaida.

Canada is also home to individuals and groups that support the use of violence to achieve domestic political goals. These individuals and groups work outside the legitimate political system.

What is the Service’s priority investigation?

CSIS’ current counter-terrorism priority is the threat posed by individuals and groups inspired by the ideology of Al Qaeda.

What legal tools are used to counter terrorism?

CSIS operates under the authority of the CSIS Act, which provides a legal mandate to investigate individuals or organizations suspected of involvement in political violence and terrorism, regardless of where the threat to Canadian security originates. Although CSIS is not a law enforcement agency, and has no powers of arrest or detention, it works closely with law enforcement agencies across Canada to strengthen public safety.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and other police forces use the Criminal Code and the Anti-terrorism Act. The Anti-terrorism Act provides measures to deter, disable, identify and prosecute those involved in terrorist activities or supporting such activities, and makes it an offence to knowingly support terrorist organizations, whether through overt violence, or by providing support through documentation, shelter or funds. CSIS has no authority under the Anti-terrorism Act.

What are CSIS’ primary counter-terrorism activities?

Investigations

In the course of CSIS investigations into threats to the security of Canada, the Service relies extensively on the voluntary cooperation of members of the public. CSIS may use surveillance to monitor the activities of individuals of interest. The Service may also obtain Federal Court warrants which allow the use of other investigative techniques.

Threat Assessments

The Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC), housed at CSIS Headquarters, is a government centre staffed by representatives from government departments, agencies and police forces. ITAC produces comprehensive, integrated threat assessments, which are distri-buted within the intelligence community and to relevant first-line responders on a timely basis. These assessments allow the Government of Canada to more effectively coordinate activities in response to specific threats in order to prevent or mitigate risks to public safety.

Security Screening

Under its Government Screening Program, CSIS provides security screening services to federal departments and institutions. The Service also performs “site-access” assessments of individuals seeking employment at airports and nuclear power stations and in the federal parliamentary precinct. The Service thus helps to ensure that individuals with terrorist connections do not obtain access to our country’s sensitive sites or classified information.

CSIS screens immigrant applicants, providing Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) with in-depth examinations of prospective immigrants whose backgrounds may present security concerns, and provides front-end screening of refugees to identify terrorists posing as refugee claimants wishing to enter into the country.

Assisting law enforcement and immigration officials

The CSIS Act gives CSIS the authority to share information with the RCMP and other police authorities to assist them in their criminal investigations. The June 2006 arrests of 17 individuals in the Toronto area were the result of an RCMP investigation based on CSIS lead information CSIS also provides input to the Canada Border Services Agency’s Enforcement Information Index, an automated system that alerts immigration and customs officers abroad and at ports of entry about security threats posed by suspected and known terrorists seeking admission to Canada. CSIS information enables Canadian immigration officials to refuse applications from individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity, effectively barring their entry into Canada.

Liaison and cooperation

In Canada, CSIS works closely with other government departments and law enforcement agencies at the federal, provincial and municipal levels to respond to terrorist threats and incidents.

The CSIS Act allows the Service to enter into an arrangement with a foreign agency, only after the Minister of Public Safety, in consultation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, have approved the arrangement. Currently, the Service has about 270 cooperative relationships with more than 145 countries, giving it access to global information and intelligence on potential terrorist threats.

Advice to government

The primary goal of intelligence-gathering is to provide timely and accurate information, analysis and advice to government policy-makers through detailed reports, studies and briefs on issues related to terrorism and public safety. CSIS tactical analysis combines intelligence gathered by the Service with information from other sources, including government agencies and other intelligence services, while its strategic analysis offers comprehensive, policy-relevant intelligence assessments to government.

Terrorist listings

Under the provisions of the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA), CSIS may provide advice to the government with respect to the listing of terrorist entities. The consequences of being a listed entity are severe: first, the listing process is public; second, a listed entity is automatically considered a ‘terrorist group’ by definition, and the Criminal Code clearly spells out the sanctions for those dealing with a terrorist group; and third, the assets of a listed entity may be immediately frozen.

Since the creation of the list, CSIS has contri-buted to listing 40 entities, including Al Qaida the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Hizballah, groups which have operated or had supporters in Canada for many years.

The United Nations (UN) also maintains several lists of designated terrorist entities. Much as with the ATA list, the immediate result of being listed pursuant to the UN regulations is public identification as being associated with terrorism, an automatic freeze of assets and prohibition of any fundraising efforts. CSIS’ role is to provide advice to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which is ultimately responsible for Canada’s international obligations with respect to UN resolutions.

Human rights vs. national security—Finding the balance

CSIS is considered by many to be the most externally reviewed security intelligence service in the world. In fact, the CSIS Act, enacted in 1984, served as the model for subsequent legislation for the Australian and British security services

CSIS operates within a strong legal framework, which allows the Service to carry out its activities while concurrently protecting the civil liberties of individual Canadians.

Ministerial direction sets clear limits on how the Service undertakes investigations. For example, the use of human sources on a post-secondary campus is strictly regulated and must be approved by the Minister of Public Safety.

Intrusive investigations are subject to senior-level approval. When warrant powers such as intercepts are required, the Minister and a special designated judge of the Federal Court of Canada must authorize them.

While CSIS may enter into arrangements with foreign countries and agencies, it may only do so with the approval of the Minister of Public Safety in consultation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Any information shared with those foreign agencies is accompanied by various caveats restricting both the use and further dissemination of that information. CSIS has also developed a new caveat, which seeks assurance that any Canadian citizen detained by a foreign government will be fairly treated within the accepted norms of international conventions, and that he is accorded due process under law and afforded access to Canadian diplomatic personnel, if requested.

Furthermore, the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) has the mandate to review the Service’s operational activities, to assess whether the Service’s actions have been carried out in accordance with the laws of Canada, directions from the Minister and CSIS operational policy and to inform Parliament and the Canadian public.

Of course, like all federal agencies, CSIS is also subject to Government of Canada laws and regulations. The Service has been audited by the Auditor General’s Office; complies with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act; has appeared before the Canadian Human Rights Commission to respond to complaints; and has testified at public proceedings including the O’Connor Commission into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar and various Federal Court hearings.

The full spectrum of legal and institutional mechanisms in place ensures that CSIS does its work in a way that respects individual liberties, while maintaining its ability to investigate potential threats to the collective security of this country.