Liberals say spy oversight committee is ‘essential’ in building public trust

Canada is the only member of ‘Five Eyes’ spy alliance without watchdog group

WINNIPEG— The Liberals hope to unveil plans for new national security oversight in the coming weeks.

Liberal House leader Dominic Leblanc said the government wants to bring forward its plan for a new par- liamentary committee overseeing Canada’s intelligence agencies before the House of Commons adjourns for the summer.

“We think that’s essential for building up public confidence, frankly, in the very good work that our security agencies do,” said Leblanc at the party’s policy convention in Winnipeg Friday. “One of the challenges for the national security agencies is to build public confidence. Necessarily, a lot of their work isn’t done publicly. So we think, if there’s a respected group of parliamentarians from all political parties that are given privileged access and information, and can reassure Canadians and parliament that these agencies are operating within the law and respecting the charter, but fulfilling often a very difficult mandate.”

Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes security alliance — including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand — with no parliamentary oversight for its spies. Instead, two review bodies can look into intelligence agencies’ actions after the fact. The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) reviews CSIS, while the Communications Security Establishment commissioner keeps tabs on Canada’s electronic spies.

Leblanc said that the new parliamentary committee is not meant to replace the work of the review bodies, but augment it.

“Our intention wouldn’t be to weaken any of the existing review mechanisms,” Leblanc said. “It would be to supplement them, as our other Five Eyes allies have, with a parliamentary element of oversight and review.”

With a maximum of four weeks left before Parliament breaks for the barbecue circuit, Leblanc said that the government won’t try to pass the legislation in a rush. Instead, it will go through the normal process of committee hearings and Senate study.

A parliamentary committee was promised by the Liberals in the federal election campaign. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has also pledged to undo some of the most controversial parts of Bill C-51, the previous government’s much criticized terrorism legislation.

Leblanc told reporters Friday that the larger review of Bill C-51 and intelligence agencies will continue, while the government moves on parliamentary committee.