Canada warns of ‘limitations’ to releasing information
March hearings will delve into meddling allegations
The federal government is warning of “very practical limitations” on the extent to which classified information can be made public at a commission of inquiry into foreign interference.
In a report tabled Thursday at the inquiry, federal lawyers say the public release of intelligence about interference threats from China and others would risk exposing Canadian Security Intelligence Service sources.
It says this is compounded by the “mosaic effect” — whereby adversaries track and piece together small pieces of intelligence over a long period to reveal a clearer picture.
In turn, this could divulge intelligence gaps, methods of operation, foreign partnerships, and identities of CSIS contacts and human sources, the report says.
It warns that countries engaged in foreign interference have significant abilities to aggregate “big data” and use geolocation information and artificial intelligence to make sense of material released over a number of years.
For example, media reporting has indicated that China used such methods to dismantle the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s human source network, costing dozens of lives, the federal document says.
The report was entered into evidence at the inquiry as intelligence officials, including CSIS director David Vigneault, took part in a hearing on how the inquiry can best navigate the obstacles posed by official secrecy.
Vigneault signalled that the spy agency supports finding ways to disclose as much information as possible on the sensitive topic of foreign interference.
It is not “business as usual” when it comes to keeping a tight rein of secrecy on classified materials, he said.
The discussions on national security and confidentiality of information will help set the stage for the next public hearings, likely to take place at the end of March.
The March hearings are intended to delve into allegations of foreign interference by China, India, Russia and others in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, with a report on these matters due May 3.
The federal report tabled Thursday suggests the inquiry will have challenges making a good deal of information public.
Many of the foreign interference investigations that were active as long as five years ago are still active today, the report says.
The release of such information could also make Canada’s allies reluctant to share certain secrets with CSIS, the report suggests.
The inquiry has already had a chance to review several classified documents concerning foreign interference.
In a preliminary exercise, the inquiry asked the government to review a selection of these records with an eye to preparing them for public release.
A number of the records in question were almost entirely stripped of information by the end of the process.
“The documents at issue demonstrate in concrete terms one of the most difficult practical constraints that the inquiry will face in fulfilling its mandate,” the federal report says.