(Ottawa) A new report from the ombudsman responsible for overseeing the operations of the Canadian spy service denounces the latter’s failure to develop expertise in the application of judicial warrants. A specialization that requires training, experience and investment, it is emphasized.
Posted at 6:39
According to the National Security and Intelligence Review Board (OSSNR) report, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) must also make fundamental changes to its relationship with its lawyers at the Department of Justice .
During their investigation, authors Marie Deschamps and Craig Forcese heard from numerous witnesses reporting “systemic, cultural and governance issues” that put CSIS’s ability to “fulfill the mandate entrusted to it by Parliament”, perhaps -we read.
It was Justice Patrick Gleeson of the Federal Court, who recommended in 2020 that a “thorough and independent review” of CSIS’s “systemic, cultural and governance deficiencies and failures” be held, who then was sanctioned for illegal activities and for having failed in his “duty of candor” towards the court.
The OSSNR report argues that CSIS and its lawyers struggle “to easily meet their legal obligations, particularly to the Federal Court.”
“It is in the public interest to resolve these issues on an urgent basis,” insist the authors.