Challenge and response: Canada's intelligence community and the war on terrorism

Abstract

The terrorist attacks of September 11th catapulted Canada's intelligence community to the forefront of our national security effort. Faced with the danger of international Jihadist terrorism, Canada's intelligence community could no longer remain in an essentially reactive mode. Rather, they were impelled to shift gears to become active hunters after their quarry. The article describes the evolving governance structure of Canada's Security and Intelligence Community, culminating in the organizational changes implemented by the new Martin Government after December 2003. It then assesses the terrorist threat to Canada, setting out the presence of major terrorist networks and cells, including al‐Qaeda and its affiliates, and their known activities and objectives. There follows an examination of the roles of each of the components of Canada's intelligence community, CSIS, CSE, the RCMP, FINTRAC, OCIPEP, and specialized departmental units in dealing with the terrorist threat. Consideration is also given to the new legislative armoury provided by the Anti‐Terrorism Act of 2001 and supporting regulations. Since international intelligence relations play a significant part in Canada's counter‐terrorism effort, the article sets out the various inter‐governmental and bilateral arrangements through which intelligence sharing and operational cooperation take place. The concluding section addresses the challenges faced by democracies in combating international terrorism, including the need for accountability, transparency and public education consistent with the requirements of operational secrecy, in order to build up public confidence in Canada's emergent National Security Policy.