Parliamentary Committee Notes: Transparency, Review and Diversity and Inclusion in National Security
PROC – Foreign Interference
Date: February 6, 2023
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: NCSB
Issue: To provide an overview of Public Safety Canada's efforts to promote transparency, review, and diversity and inclusion in the national security community, including addressing anti-Asian discrimination in Canadian society.
Proposed Response:
- This government has taken significant steps on national security review and transparency, starting with the 2017 National Security Transparency Commitment and continuing with the review mechanisms launched through C-59 and C-21 that created NSIRA and NSICOP.
- Transparency strengthens whole-of-society resilience, provides tools that build awareness and sharpens capacity to measure risk for our citizens, democratic institutions and enterprises.
- National Security transparency has meant redoubling efforts to reach out to communities by the RCMP, CSIS and Public Safety, convening discussions with stakeholder groups, including Asian Canadians, on the threat of foreign interference and the impact on communities.
- We must be certain in steps taken to address state-based threats that these approaches and messages work for, and with the safety and security, of our fellow Canadians.
- Open avenues of engagement with civil society on issues critical to Canada's national security need to continue, such as through the National Security Transparency Advisory Group and through direct outreach to impacted communities, as we have been doing with students, researchers and institutions.
- Ongoing consultation with communities and civil society stakeholders is essential, and engagement at the grassroots level must be meaningful to build trust.
- New authorities must be balanced with review and oversight.
- Continuing efforts to build stronger and more accountable institutions will make national security more effective.
Background:
The National Security Transparency Commitment (NSTC) was introduced in 2017. The objective of the NSTC is to strengthen public trust and confidence in national security institutions and increase public awareness of the national security issues facing Canada, so as to bolster democratic legitimacy, social cohesion and resilience to disinformation.
The National Security Transparency Advisory Group (NS-TAG) plays a key role in providing advice on the implementation of the NSTC to the Deputy Minister of Public Safety. The NS-TAG is composed of former civil servants, academics and members of civil society. Since its formation in 2019, it has produced three reports. Its third report (2022) focused on relations between national security departments and agencies and diverse communities. One of the sessions included a discussion on issues affecting Asian Canadians.
The accountability of the national security community has also been strengthened by review bodies, such as the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA). Going forward, it is imperative that the national security community continue to maintain an open, transparent, and cooperative relationship with oversight bodies, such as NSIRA, NSICOP, the various Officers of Parliament, and with civil society through the NS-TAG.
In addition to transparency, addressing bias and promoting diversity in our public institutions are critical to building trust with Canadian communities. It is also important that national security programs align with the priorities set out in the November 2021 Speech from the Throne (‘standing up for diversity and inclusion').
In March 2022, Public Safety organised a symposium on two main themes: Islamophobia and anti-Asian hate. It explored how events in recent years have contributed to forms of discrimination, and how national security policies and operations have negatively impacted communities. Muslim Canadians and Asian Canadians shared their lived experiences and provided a way forward to build trust and create conditions for more respectful interactions with the national security community.
The evolving geopolitical dynamics of China's actions on the world stage and of Canada-China relations have had a significant impact on people of Asian descent who are perceived as one homogenous group. Anti-Asian hate and xenophobia have also been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to increased reports of attacks targeting Asian Canadians. A survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute found that more than half of Asian Canadians have suffered discrimination between 2020 and 2021. Another study conducted found that the province of British Columbia has had the most reported anti-Asian incidents per capita of any sub-national region in all of North America.
Public Safety Canada plays a key role in coordinating work by the national security community to enhance efforts on transparency and diversity and inclusion, to build trust with Canadians and protect our country against efforts by hostile states to sow division and undermine our values and social cohesion.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Matthew Mayer, Director, National Security Policy Division, 613-295-3918 and Batoul Hreiche, Acting Manager, National Security Policy Division, 343-571-9591
Approved by: Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère, Acting Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, National and Cyber Security Branch, 613-990-4976
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