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By Wesley Wark
CIPS Policy Brief, October 2016

• The Canadian Parliament is about to embark on a bold experiment, and the Liberal government to enact one of its key promises regarding national security legislation. Just before the summer recess, the Government introduced Bill C-22, a bill to create a new National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, (NSICOP). The bill is now facing the test of debate and scrutiny as the fall session proceeds. The proposed committee will be structured differently from standing committees of the Commons and Senate and will have unique powers to access classified records and briefings on intelligence and security matters. It is meant to 1) address a longstanding deficiency in the ability of the Parliament of Canada to properly scrutinize the activities of the Canadian security and intelligence system, and 2) address serious gaps in the capacity of existing accountability and review mechanisms to provide a broad overview of what goes on in the many federal government agencies charged with security and intelligence functions.

Wesley Wark is a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa.