Two experts who have worked in the highest levels of security intelligence in Canada believe that the country has lost the confidence of its allies because of its handling of the file of Chinese interference in the past year.
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“We have excellent investigators in Canada. We have an excellent operational reputation. On the political level, we are shooting ourselves in the foot,” summarized Michel Juneau-Katsuya, former senior officer of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) during a parliamentary committee on Thursday.
The “ambivalence” of Justin Trudeau’s government on certain issues, such as those of Huawei or the long and tortuous process of investigating foreign interference, is cause for concern for Canada’s allies, he explained. .
“The price we have paid now collectively is enormous,” Mr. Juneau-Katsuya continued.
“People are losing faith in the leadership of this country, they are losing faith in the institutions, and even worse, our allies are losing faith in our ability to fix the problem.”
However, this “ambivalence” is not unique to the Trudeau government and had already been noticed internationally in the 1990s.
Sitting next to him, Daniel Jean, who worked in the Harper and Trudeau governments as an intelligence adviser and as a deputy minister, said he generally agreed with the conclusions of special rapporteur David Johnston.
In a preliminary report released shortly before his resignation, Mr. Johnston attributed much of Canada’s problems to the way sensitive information is handled in government offices and, more specifically, to the way CSIS works with the policy.
The problem is deep and lies in the “political culture” of Canada, which does not tend to treat security intelligence files as a priority. He called on Canada to “sharpen its instruments”.
According to Messrs. Jean and Juneau-Katsuya, the government must act “with urgency” to put measures in place to better defend itself, regardless of whether or not it undertakes a public inquiry.
Michel Juneau-Katsuya pleaded for the rapid adoption of a law on foreign interference, particularly with regard to the electoral process and the intimidation of the diasporas targeted by governments.
“One of the big, big, big problems right now for law enforcement is the difficulty of being able to investigate and possibly bring to justice people who have committed wrongdoing,” said he said.
He also called for a public inquiry. “Yes, now it is necessary.”