SSC Seminar Series: Michel Doiron

Michel Doiron
Senior Review Officer
Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner (Ottawa, Ontario)

“The National Security Apparatus in Canada from 1945 to the Present: Legal Framework, Changes, Challenges and Accountability Mechanisms”

Wednesday, January 11
12:30pm to 2:00pm
Location: Mac-Corry D209 NEW LOCATION

Since the revelations of a Soviet cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko in 1945, the national security apparatus in Canada has been in a constant state of flux. From RCMP Cold War counter-intelligence operations against the Soviets to current day CSIS counter-terrorism operations against Islamic terrorism in the context of the global war on terror, intelligence operations have evolved from narrow national interests to the wider, interdependent, security interests of our globalized world which call for a Canadian contribution on the international stage. The evolution of Canadian intelligence operations has also been marked by the move from compartmentalised, need-to-know, operations to the need to share intelligence information with a variety of new intelligence and law enforcement entities here and abroad. This sharing of information, from open and classified sources, while necessary for counter-terrorism investigations and operations, poses a risk to the privacy of Canadians as noted in recent jurisprudence and commissions of inquiry. The impact of these decisions and inquiries has led to what is being termed "the judicialization of intelligence", as information collected for intelligence purposes may be examined by the courts using an evidentiary standard.

Everyone welcome!