Intelligence Commissioner of Canada

Intelligence Commissioner of Canada
Commissaire au renseignement du Canada
Incumbent
Simon Noël
since October 1, 2022
Office of the Intelligence Commissioner
Reports toPrime minister of Canada
AppointerGovernor in Council;
on the advice of the prime minister
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Constituting instrumentIntelligence Commissioner Act
National Security Act, 2017
FormationJuly 12, 2019
Websitewww.canada.ca/en/intelligence-commissioner.html
Office of the Intelligence Commissioner
Bureau du commissaire au renseignement
Agency overview
Formed2019
HeadquartersOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Employees11
Annual budget$2.1 million (2019)[1]

The intelligence commissioner of Canada (French: commissaire au renseignement du Canada) is an independent officer of the Government of Canada charged with quasi-judicial review of certain decisions made by the Minister of Public Safety and Minister of National Defence in relation to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE).[2]

The intelligence commissioner heads the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner of Canada (French: Bureau du commissaire au renseignement), the agency which supports the work of the commissioner.[3] The position is a Governor in Council appointment made on the advice of the prime minister of Canada. The commissioner is accountable to the Parliament of Canada through the prime minister, who receives an annual report from the commissioner and tables it in the House of Commons.[2]

The inaugural intelligence commissioner of Canada is Jean-Pierre Plouffe, who took office on July 12, 2019 and served until October 1, 2022. The present intelligence commissioner of Canada is Simon Noël, who took office on October 1, 2022.[4]

Role

Certain activities carried out by CSIS and the CSE must be authorized by their ministers, the Minister of Public Safety and Minister of National Defence, respectively. A subset of these authorizations must be reviewed and approved by the intelligence commissioner before they can be acted upon.[5]

Background

The office was established as part of the National Security Act, 2017, an omnibus bill introduced by the Trudeau government which reworked many of the existing mechanisms within the intelligence community in Canada, including oversight of intelligence gathering and any actions taken by intelligence agencies on behalf of the Government of Canada.[6][7]

Accountability

The intelligence commissioner issues a report on their activity to the prime minister annually who must table it in Parliament after removing confidential and classified information. The commissioner is entitled to receive all reports which are compiled by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).[8]

List of intelligence commissioners of Canada

No. Name Took office Left office Appointed by
1 Jean-Pierre Plouffe July 12, 2019 October 1, 2022 Justin Trudeau
2 Simon Noël[4] October 1, 2022 Incumbent Justin Trudeau

References

  1. ^ "GC InfoBase". www.tbs-sct.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Office of the Intelligence Commissioner: Canada's new oversight body for intelligence activities". Newswire.
  3. ^ "Canada gets its first-ever intelligence commissioner". CBC News.
  4. ^ a b Commissioner, Office of the Intelligence (2022-10-05). "The Honourable Simon Noël". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  5. ^ "Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do". www.canada.ca. Office of the Intelligence Commissioner. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Government Bill (House of Commons) C-59 (42-1) - Royal Assent - An Act respecting national security matters - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Canada's national security landscape will get a major overhaul this summer". CBC News.
  8. ^ Tunney, Catharine. "Canada gets its first-ever intelligence commissioner". CBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2019.