Summary of the Meeting of the National Security Transparency Advisory Group (NS-TAG) October 23-24, 2022

Held in Ottawa, Ontario

Members Present:

• Daniel Jean
• Amira Elghawaby
• Chantal Bernier
• Stéphane Leman-Langlois
• Mary Francoli (co-chair)
• Jeffrey Roy
• John Ariyo
• Rizwan Mohammad

Members that Attended Virtually:

• Jillian Stirk
• Lorelei Williams

Meeting theme:

• Briefings and Forward Planning

Invited Guests and Speakers:

• The Honourable Marco Mendicino – Minister, Public Safety Canada
• Shawn Tupper – Deputy Minister, Public Safety Canada
• Tricia Geddes – Associate Deputy Minister, Public Safety Canada
• Thomas Juneau – Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
• Caroline Xavier – Chief, Communications Security Establishment
• Nahib Eldebs – Deputy Chief, Communications Security Establishment
• Wesley Wark – Senior Fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
• Alex Boutilier – National Reporter, Global News
• Mercedes Stephenson - Ottawa Bureau Chief, Global News
• The Honourable David McGuinty – Chair, National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
• Lisa-Marie Inman – Executive Director of the Secretariat, National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
• Craig Forcese – Vice-Chair, National Security and Intelligence Review Agency
• Erin O’Gorman – President, Canada Border Services Agency
• Scott Millar – Vice President, Strategic Policy Branch, Canada Border Services Agency

National Security Community Members Present (as observers):

Department of National Defence (DND), Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Public Safety (PS) Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)

Agenda:

• Opening remarks and review and adoption of agenda
• Lookback on the first three years of the NS-TAG
• Briefing and Q&A with the Communications Security Establishment (CSE)
• Briefing and Q&A with journalists/experts
• Internal NS-TAG meeting
• Election of non-government Co-Chair, Vice-Chair
• Wrap-up and summary from day 1
• Briefing and Q&A with the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP)
• Briefing and Q&A with National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA)
• Briefing and Q&A with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
• Discussion with Minister Mendicino
• Discussion with the Deputy Minister of Public Safety
• Closing remarks and next steps

Meeting Summary:

The first in-person NS-TAG meeting since 2020 took place on October 23-24, 2022, in Ottawa. The meeting was comprised of briefing sessions with journalists/experts, review bodies and select departments and agencies from the national security community. The meeting allowed new members to familiarize themselves with national security and intelligence work, oversight mechanisms and various transparency initiatives within the national security community. It also served as an opportunity for the members to discuss the way forward for this year’s theme on digital tools and national security.

Key Takeaways of the Discussion Session:

• NS-TAG members commented that one of the main takeaways from the past three years was institutionalizing transparency. To assist with this, they considered that it may be useful for the NS-TAG to meet with members of the national security community to perform advisory and/or skill transfer sessions.
• The Group members agreed that they must explore how the principles of national security organizations can be changed, and how people within these organizations can be convinced that transparency is not a chore, but rather an operational imperative.
• The Chief of CSE, Caroline Xavier, and Deputy Chief, Nabih Eldebs, discussed how CSE must have public trust to fulfill its role and that comes with transparency. Thus, CSE has increased the amount and the quality of the information it releases and is working more closely with the media. They also provided a detailed explanation of CSE’s powers and limitations with respect to working with the private sector on security threats, under Bill C-26. Lastly, they discussed the diversity that CSE has achieved within its senior leadership positions, while also noting that they continue to lack sufficient representation from specific communities.
• Journalists Alex Boutilier and Mercedes Stephenson, as well as national security expert, Wesley Wark, emphasized the lack of transparency and communication with the news media. When national security departments and agencies are unwilling to tell a story, the space could be filled with mis- and disinformation. Guest speakers stated that in recent years, they have seen increased efforts from some departments and agencies to work more with the media, but nevertheless, improvements must still be made. During this session, it was also noted by one of the guest speakers that they find there is a disconnect between the NS-TAG’s official mandate and their work to-date. This speaker strongly urged the Group to consider what they might do differently to rectify this.
• The NS-TAG took some time to privately discuss plans for the upcoming year, including meeting formats, the election of a new Co-Chair, potential meeting topics as well as possible reporting formats.
• Mary Francoli was elected as the new non-government Co-Chair.
• Day 2 began with the Chair of the NSICOP, the Honourable David McGuinty, as well as Executive Director of the Secretariat of the NSICOP, Lisa-Marie Inman. They highlighted their dedication to communicating transparently with Canadians through their reports and explained their strict redaction framework. Additionally, they disclosed that their next report will include a section on national security community accountability, which will review whether organizations have implemented any of the NSICOP’s recommendations.  
• The Vice-Chair of NSIRA, Craig Forcese, focused on the challenges of balancing transparency and secrecy in national security. He disclosed that during the redaction process, it can be difficult to predict when a disclosure may prejudice a bonified national security interest. The guest speaker acknowledged that releasing a heavily redacted document can lead to a source of further disinformation.
• The President of the CBSA, Erin O’Gorman, as well as the Vice President of the Strategic Policy Branch, Scott Millar, focused on how the CBSA is trying to modernize and digitalize its processes. They also examined the challenge of complying with the Privacy Act while trying to adhere to the principles of Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) (while the Privacy Act states that organizations cannot collect more data than is needed to fulfill their mandate, GBA+ necessitates the collection of personal data to better recognize biases). With respect to the data they do collect, guest speakers assured the NS-TAG that the CBSA is currently looking for a way to release this information in a manner that is more useful and meaningful to the average Canadian.
• The Minister of Public Safety Canada, the Honourable Marco Mendicino, stated that, due to the increase of mis- and disinformation, transparency is becoming more important. While the NS-TAG agreed that protecting Canadians necessitates guarding some information, they noted that national security and intelligence organizations need to do this in a principled manner.
• The Deputy Minister of Public Safety Canada, Shawn Tupper, commented that the national security community must ensure that the diversity of voices and faces that make up Canada is represented in our policymaking process. The Deputy Minister encouraged the NS-TAG to reflect on gaps and to present advice on those topics. He also emphasized that the best policies are driven by public discourse and debate, and asked the group to be open and honest with him at all times.