Introduction
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Annual Report 2018

1. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP or “the Committee”) is pleased to present the Prime Minister with its first Annual Report. This past year ushered in a new approach to review and accountability in what is termed Canada's “security and intelligence community.” Like our closest allies, ^{Footnote 1} Canada now has an all-party committee composed of members from both houses of Parliament, cleared to view the most sensitive material and with a mandate to conduct wide-ranging reviews of national security and intelligence across the government. The Committee had a full agenda in its first year. It held an extensive series of information meetings and site visits with the core departments and agencies of the community, conducted a special review in April and May, and completed two separate reviews under its legislated mandate. It also initiated relationships with other review bodies in Canada and among its allies, and started to engage the academic and civil liberties communities. Throughout this period, the security and intelligence community has been supportive and generous with its time and expertise. The Committee looks forward to continuing its work in the years ahead.

2. The Committee drafted the Annual Report with a number of key objectives in mind. First, it believes that the recommendations and findings stemming from its review should serve to strengthen the many organizations that comprise Canada's security and intelligence community, in both effectiveness and accountability. The Committee also seeks to inform Canadians and Parliamentarians of the activities of those organizations and of the security and intelligence community overall. Finally, it hopes to inform democratic debate on the interplay among issues of security, rights and freedoms.

3. To situate the work of the Committee, this Annual Report begins by describing the security and intelligence review apparatus in Canada. This first chapter provides a historical summary of the origins of the Committee and its mandate. It also describes the factors that the Committee considers when deciding what it will review. Finally, it provides a description of the Committee's activities in its first year.

4. Chapter 2 provides a functional and practical description of the security and intelligence community, including its key activities and relationships that work to keep Canadians safe and to promote Canadian interests.

5. Chapter 3 presents the Committee's review of the Government of Canada's process for setting intelligence priorities. This process is fundamental to democratic accountability. Through it, Cabinet provides direction on intelligence priorities to the community as a whole, and ministers direct their respective departments and agencies. As such, the priority-setting process provides the governance and prescriptive elements for the collection and assessment of intelligence by the security and intelligence community in support of government policy objectives and operations. The Committee undertook a review of this process under paragraph 8(1)(a) of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act (NSICOP Act).

6. Chapter 4 details the Committee's review of the intelligence activities of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF). Although this intelligence program is the single largest in Canada and involves a number of different intelligence collection activities, it is not specified in legislation and the Canadian public is largely unaware of it. Until the creation of NSICOP, the DND/CAF intelligence program had not been subject to external review. The introduction of review is timely, however, as the program is forecast to grow under Canada's “Strong, Secure, Engaged” defence policy. Given the size and scope of this program, the Committee conducted a focused review of the structure and authorities of DND/CAF intelligence activities under paragraph 8(1)(b) of the NSICOP Act.

7. The closing chapter of the Annual Report provides some concluding thoughts on the Committee's experience in its first year of operation and briefly describes the Committee's plans for 2019.