Introduction
Special Report on the National Security and Intelligence Activities of Global Affairs Canada

1. Global Affairs Canada (hereafter, GAC or the Department) has the broad mandate to manage all diplomatic and consular relations, encourage international trade, and lead international development and humanitarian assistance efforts. ^{Footnote 1} Under this mandate, the Department is responsible to promote and advance Canada's political, economic and security interests abroad. ^{Footnote 2} The Department is divided into three business lines: foreign affairs, trade and international development. The Department operates with a budget that exceeds $7 billion, employs some 12,000 staff and manages a global network of over 175 missions in 110 countries. ^{Footnote 3} Its activities include the development of Canada's foreign policy, the management of Canada's bilateral and multilateral relations, the provision of consular services to Canadians abroad, the negotiation of treaties and trade agreements, and the pursuit of global poverty reduction, peace and security. ^{Footnote 4}

2. The Department conducts activities in pursuit of its broad mandate under a combination of Crown prerogative and statutory authority. Its enabling legislation is the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act. ^{Footnote 5} Under sub-section 10(1), the Minister of Foreign Affairs' mandate "extend[s] to and include[s] all matters of which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, relating to the conduct of the external affairs of Canada." ^{Footnote 6} In essence, the Department's activities - conducted on behalf of the Minister - fall under the Minister's Crown prerogative authority for the conduct of external affairs unless they are otherwise established in statute. ^{Footnote 7} A number of statutes also confer specific authorities on the Minister, including with respect to controls on imports and exports of certain goods and the imposition of sanctions. ^{Footnote 8}

3. GAC is a core member of the security and intelligence community. Many of Canada's most significant national security threats - from terrorism and foreign interference to weapons of mass destruction - emanate from abroad or involve a foreign nexus. As the Department responsible for advancing security interests abroad and managing bilateral relationships, it plays an important role in preventing and responding to threats to Canadians and Canadian interests. GAC is among the largest consumers of intelligence in the government. Intelligence on the capabilities, intentions and activities of foreign states collected by domestic and allied intelligence partners informs a wide range of the Department's activities, from *** and foreign policy development, to the security of Canada's missions abroad. The Department also collects valuable intelligence in the form of privileged diplomatic reporting from its global network of missions. As well, it is an essential partner to Canada's security and intelligence organizations, supporting some of their most sensitive activities domestically ***, and ensuring those activities align with Canada's broader foreign policy interests and objectives.

4. GAC's national security and intelligence activities are difficult to define and differentiate from the Department's broader mandate. Its national security activities are both broad and specific, ranging from managing Canada's membership in multilateral forums promoting international peace and security, to a narrow regulatory function controlling the export, import and use of potentially injurious technologies and materials. Many of its foreign policy activities, in turn, serve as tools to respond to national security threats, such as demarches or the suspension of engagement in response to foreign interference activities against Canada. Finally, intelligence collected by partners, allies and the Department itself informs nearly all of GAC's activities, effectively placing the organization as a *** driver of the security and intelligence community's intelligence collection priorities and requirements.

Review methodology

5. In June 2020, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP, or the Committe) decided to undertake a review of GAC's national security and intelligence activities under subsection 8(b) of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act. On July 6, 2020, the Chair of the Committee provided letters to the ministers of Foreign Affairs, of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and of National Defence notifying them of the review and requesting preliminary documentation dating primarily from January 2015 to July 2021 for the Committee's review and analysis. The Committee identified three main objectives for its review:

• to examine the authorities under which GAC conducts national security and intelligence activities and the governance of those activities;
• to provide an overview of the nature and scope of GAC's national security and intelligence activities, including a definition of those activities separate from the Department's wider mandate; and
• to explore GAC's involvement in other government departments' operations and its role in ensuring their adherence to the government's foreign, defence and security policies.

6. The Committee's approach for this review mirrors that of its previous activity reviews. It sought to be explanatory and exploratory, with an aim to understand GAC's role in the security and intelligence community. This was a significant challenge. The close interaction between foreign policy, national security and intelligence made it difficult to delineate the Department's national security and intelligence activities from its broader mandate. The Department's national security activities cover a broad spectrum, from those that are primarily driven by foreign policy concerns, such as the management of Canada's membership in multilateral organizations, to those that are primarily driven by national security concerns, such as building foreign states' counter-terrorism capacity. Its intelligence activities, in turn, range from overt diplomatic reporting to ***. Finally, the Department's broader foreign policy mandate provides it with a central role in ensuring the cohere nce of its security and intelligence partners' activities with Canada's foreign policy interests.

7. Given the range of the Department's activities, the Committee narrowed its focus to those activities whose primary purpose is to prevent or respond to national security threats or any activity that could involve the collection of intelligence using covert, clandestine, or privileged sources or methods. While the Committee recognizes that GAC's foreign policy activities, such as its participation in multilateral organizations, can lead to important national security outcomes, such activities are included in the scope of this review only when they had tangible implications for national security or intelligence (for example, the inclusion of certain goods on export and import control lists). This approach is consistent with how the Committee defined "national security" and "intelligence" for the purposes of its reviews in its first annual report in 2018. ^{Footnote 9} Moreover, the Committee remains interested in the potential implications of organizations' activities on the Charter rights of Canadians; however, the Department's activities covered in this review did not significantly engage those rights. The Committee makes no findings or recommendations in this area.

8. The Committee's review encompassed any part of the Department with authorities, roles or responsibilities relevant to security and intelligence. That said, the Department's International Security and Political Affairs Branch was a specific focus. This branch is responsible for addressing international crises and the security of Canadians through policy, analysis and programming on global security challenges such as international crime and terrorism, weapons proliferation, and foreign interfere nce. ^{Footnote 10} The branch's annual expenditures amount to approximately $450 million and it is staffed by some 313 full-time employees. ^{Footnote 11} The branch has five bureaus:

• Intelligence Bureau (created in 2019): responsible for intelligence activities, including threat assessments, coordination with domestic partners and intelligence programs;
• Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion Bureau: responsible for human rights, international digital policy and international cyber policy;
• International Crime and Counter-Terrorism Bureau: responsible for international crime and counter-terrorism policy and programming;
• International Security Policy Bureau: responsible for coordinating international and defence policy with DND/CAF, non-proliferation and disarmament policy and programming, and managing Canada's membership in multilateral security and defence organizations; and
• Peace and Stabilization Operations Program Bureau: responsible for policy, programming and deployments under the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program. ^{Footnote 12}

9. From September 2020 to July 2021, the Committee received documents from GAC and its security and intelligence partners, including the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The NSICOP Secretariat also held a number of working-level briefings with GAC, CSIS, CSE, DND/CAF and RCMP officials on the Department's national security and intelligence activities. The Committee held two appearances and one briefing with senior officials from GAC, CSIS and CSE in June 2021, including with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. A list of witnesses is at Appendix A.

Rationale for review

10. This report marks the Committee's third review of the activities of a core member of the security and intelligence community. The Committee applied the same criteria as in its previous activity reviews to inform its decision to examine GAC's national security and intelligence activities, namely:

• whether the organization was previously subject to review;
• the extent of its national security or intelligence activities and the degree to which they are known; and
• whether the activities are governed by specific legislation or formal government direction. ^{Footnote 13}

11. The Department's national security and intelligence activities meet the above criteria. First, the full spectrum of the organization's national security and intelligence activities has never been subject to independent external review. Second, the Department's national security and intelligence activities are broad and not clearly defined. In addition, they are not well known by parliamentarians or Canadians. Finally, the Department's authority to conduct most of its activities, including its national security and intelligence activities, derives from a complex combination of Crown prerogative and statutory authority.

12. This review also sought to build on the Committee's previous examinations of GAC's role in specific security and intelligence activities. Relevant observations and findings from those reviews are summarized below.

• Review of the Process for Setting Intelligence Prioritiess (2018): This review discussed how Cabinet and the security and intelligence community set and respond to intelligence priorities and requirements. The Committee identified GAC as the largest client and driver of the standing intelligence requirements (the breakdown of detailed intelligence collection and assessment requirements) and concluded that GAC's collection and assessment demands required further focus and better prioritization. ^{Footnote 14}
• Review of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces' Intelligence Activities (2018): This review examined the intelligence activities conducted by DND/CAF in support of its defence mandate. As part of the review, the Committee examined the interdepartmental consultation process between DND/CAF and GAC prior to the deployment of defence intelligence capabilities abroad. The Committee found that no formal mechanism was in place for such consultations, which in at least one case prevented GAC from conducting its own assessment of the foreign policy risks of a deployment. The Committee recommended that DND/CAF implement a standardized process for interdepartmental consultations on the deployment of defence intelligence capabilities, including a minimum standard of documentation. ^{Footnote 15}
• Review of the Government Response to Foreign Interference (2019): As part of its review of the government's response to the threat posed by foreign interference, the Committee examined the Department's responsibility for taking measures to address foreign interference and for managing Canada's bilateral relationships and promoting its interests abroad. The report outlined the tools at the Department's disposal to respond to this threat, ranging from public attribution and suspended engagement, to multilateral sanctions. Ultimately, the Committee expressed concern that GAC's leadership role in responding to foreign interference meant that foreign policy considerations often take precedence over considerations of domestic harms. ^{Footnote 16}

This review seeks to more fully explain the Department's role in the security and intelligence community.

Previous external reviews

13. The full spectrum of GAC's national security and intelligence activities has never been subject to independent external review. In the past 10 years, the Office of the Auditor General and parliamentary committees have examined discrete elements of GAC's national security and intelligence activities relating to export controls, mission security and the government's response to hostage-takings by terrorist groups. ^{Footnote 17} Their focus and relevant conclusions are summarized below.

• Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Controlling Exports at the Border (2015): The Auditor General's fall 2015 report examined whether CBSA and its key federal partners, including GAC, had sufficient information, practices and controls in place at the border to prevent the export of goods that contravened Canada's export laws. Concerning GAC, the audit examined whether the Department issues permits for strategic and military goods controlled under the Export and Import Permits Act within the timeframes listed in its published service standards (mostly yes). ^{Footnote 18}
• Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Physical Security at Canada's Missions Abroad (2018): The Auditor General's fall 2018 report examined whether GAC had met the physical security needs at missions abroad to protect its staff and its assets. The audit found that GAC had not taken all measures necessary to respond to evolving security threats and identified security deficiencies that required immediate attention and incomplete or absent security assessments for many missions. The Auditor General recommended that GAC ensure all threat and vulnerability assessments are up to date and conducted in accordance with the Department's security standards. ^{Footnote 19}
• House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, Strengthening Consular Service Today and for the Future (2018): This House of Commons committee examined the Department's provision of consular services to Canadians abroad. As part of this study, it discussed GAC's role in coordinating the government's response to hostage-takings of Canadians abroad by terrorist entities. The committee made six recommendations on this issue, including that the government clarify that Canadians who pay a ransom for the release of kidnapping victims will not be subject to criminal prosecution, and that the government review each kidnapping case to identify lessons learned, and to establish best practices for family engagement. ^{Footnote 20}
• Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Safety and Security for Global Affairs Canada Employees and Canadians Abroad (2019): This Senate committee addressed the findings of the Auditor General's 2018 report on mission security. It discussed additional safety and security issues, including security awareness training, employee mental health and consular communications. The committee endorsed the Auditor General's recommendations and called for greater mental health services for GAC employees posted in high-risk countries. ^{Footnote 21}

Structure of the review

14. The following chapters examine GAC's national security and intelligence activities. The first chapter focuses on GAC's legal framework, which includes a mixture of authorities ranging from the Crown Prerogative to statute. The second chapter examines the Department's broad 'foreign policy cohesion' role to ensure the national security and intelligence activities of other departments and agencies are aligned with Canada's foreign policy. The third chapter focuses on the Department's facilitation role [*** One sentence was deleted to remove injurious or privileged information . The sentence described the Department's role. *** ]. The fourth chapter describes GAC's leadership role; that is, activities exclusively carried out by the Department or at its direction. The review ends with the Committee's assessment, findings and recommendations.