CSIS 2019 Public Report
Date: Date the document is sent
Issue: On May 20, 2020 the Canadian Press published a news article based on CSIS’ Public Report. The article mainly focuses on the threat of foreign investment and the ‘incel’ movement.
Proposed Response:
- CSIS’ 2019 Public Report shares the important work done last year to keep Canada and Canadians safe in today’s changing threat environment.
- As the Report makes clear, foreign interference and espionage are persistent, and increasing in some areas.
- This can occur through the foreign acquisition of and/or investment into sensitive, Canadian intellectual property and technology, which directly threatens Canada’s economic prosperity and national interests.
- That is why CSIS will continue investigating these threats and providing advice to the Government of Canada on such foreign investments and acquisitions.
- In fact, CSIS is seeing an increased risk of foreign interference and espionage due to the extraordinary effort of our businesses and research centres during this pandemic. As a result, CSIS is also working with these organizations to ensure that their work and proprietary information remains safely in their control.
- With respect to the Incel movement, the Report highlights CSIS’ leadership in adopting new, more accurate terminology to describe the multi-faceted motivations behind violent extremism. Gender-driven violence is a form of ideologically motivated violent extremism which CSIS has a mandate to investigate, in cooperation with its law enforcement partners.
Background:
On May 20, 2020 CSIS tabled its 2019 Public Report in the House of Commons and the Senate. In response, the Canadian Press published a news articles entitled “CSIS warns of security concerns linked to foreign investment in Canada.”
The article focuses on the risks posed by foreign investment in Canada, quoting Director Vigneault that state-sponsored commercial espionage is the greatest threat to Canada’s economy. This is in line with previous stakeholder engagement by the Service. In 2018, Director Vigneault gave a speech to the Economic Club Forum which highlighted the threat of foreign investment, as well as Intellectual Property (IP) theft, and its impact on economic security of individual companies and Canada writ large.
The article states that the Service has not shared which state-owned enterprises and foreign state actors are considered a threat. The article goes on to highlight that the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) report released earlier this year specifically named China and Russia for engaging in foreign interference activities in Canada. As you are aware, CSIS cannot discuss specifics of its investigations publically. However, it has a stakeholder engagement initiative to bring awareness of threats to key industry and research institutes.
The article also mentions the threat posed by violent, ideologically-motivated individuals, including those involved in the ‘incel’ (involuntary celibate) online movement. This is relevant as on May 19, 2020 the Canadian Press reported that the York Police had updated charges against a 17-year-old-boy, who allegedly attacked a woman with a machete, to include counts of terrorism. It was reported that the accused individual was inspired by incel ideology.
Contacts:
Prepared by: N/A
Approved by: [Redacted], Assistant Director Policy and Strategic Partnerships, [Redacted]
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