Top-secret security committee reports challenges accessing information from government

One of the committees tapped by the prime minister to look into the state of foreign interference in Canada says it is still experiencing significant hurdles accessing information from various government departments.

The assessment is included in the latest annual report by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), which states the group has had “problems obtaining government information that it is entitled to by law.”

NSICOP outlines, for example, that “several” departments have tried to cite, as examples of reasons for withholding information, circumstances that are “outside the statutory exceptions.”

“Some departments selectively refused to provide information even though the information fell within a request for information from the committee,” the report states. “In several cases, the committee came across the information later or through other sources, such as subsequent media reporting based on information disclosed by those very departments under the Access to Information Act.”

“This is an important problem, because the committee is unaware of what information is being withheld, which could undermine its ability to fulfil its mandate,” it adds.

The 34-page report, released Wednesday, is a redacted version, while the full copy has been delivered to the prime minister.

NSICOP has been reviewing the state of foreign interference in Canada since the committee first came together more than five years ago, and the federal government has continuously pointed to the group as best positioned to study the issue amid mounting allegations of foreign interference in recent months, especially because the committee is meant to have access to classified information.

Reviews of other top files also fall within the group’s mandate in an effort to hold Canada’s national security and intelligence agencies accountable, such as its ongoing look at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s federal policing mandate, and into the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces’ intelligence activities.

NSICOP’s report also lays out previous recommendations the committee has made to government across several past reviews, and provides a status update on which have been implemented. However, according to the report’s opening message from the committee chair, Liberal MP David McGuinty, as of last December, the government has not formally responded to 22 recommendations made in the committee’s last seven reviews.

Examples of unaddressed recommendations include that the “security and intelligence community develop a strategic overview of the Standing Intelligence Requirements to ensure Cabinet is receiving the best information it needs to make decisions,” and that the “security and intelligence community adopt a consistent and transparent approach to planning and monitoring of employment equity and diversity goals.”

The report also found upon review of Global Affairs Canada that the department is lacking in consistent internal governance, especially when it comes to intelligence activities, which is leading to an “important gap in ministerial accountability.”

With files from CTVNews.ca’s Seniors Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello