CSIS CHIEF STANDS BY CHARGES

*** Do NOT underestimate CSIS. They know what's going on better than any of us because that's their job and now they're informing Canadians of what it is they know that is of significant national concern - is that not what the public demands of them? MS ***

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100705/national/spy_chief_appearance


OTTAWA - The unapologetic head of the country's spy service insists there is foreign interference in provincial politics and there is nothing wrong with Canadians knowing about it.

Dick Fadden told a rare July sitting of the public safety and national intelligence committee Monday that foreign influence over a number of provincial politicians and public servants is a "concern and a threat."

The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service raised that concern during a CBC interview last month and did not deny China was among the countries interfering in Canadian politics.

Fadden's original interview — broadcast on the eve of a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao — enraged many who said they cast aspersions on all elected officials with ties abroad. A spokesman for the prime minister said at the time that the CSIS director was speaking on his own without pre-clearance from the government.

Fadden said Monday he had no intention of resigning in the wake of the controversy.

"I stand by my general message on foreign interference," the bespectacled spymaster told the committee. "It is a concern and a threat, it is more common here and elsewhere than many think, and it is desirable that this threat should be known and discussed."

But Fadden said the concerns he raised do not "constitute threats to the security of Canada" — no lives are at stake and no national secrets are believed to have been compromised — so he did not apprise Public Safety Minister Vic Toews nor the Privy Council Office.

The issue has been simmering for some time, he added, and Toews "is generally aware of foreign interference in Canada," as is the PCO.

Fadden told CBC television in June he was in the process of warning at least two provinces, through the PCO, that members of their cabinets have come under foreign influence.

He also said CSIS had suspicions about a number of municipal politicians in British Columbia.

He was cagey about the countries involved, but did not deny that China was a country of concern for the spy service.

"We are dealing here with a spectrum of behaviour by foreign entities that often start out innocently but later veer toward something that actually harms Canadian interests," he told the committee.

"This is a very subtle process."

He added: "Central to our concerns with true foreign interference is the strong belief that decisions about Canada must be made by Canadians for Canadian reasons."

Under repeated questioning from MPs of all stripes, Fadden would not specify either the provinces or municipalities involved, nor would he name the countries or the individuals. He called those tidbits "operational matters" for government ears only.

Some marvelled at Fadden's uncommon candour, while still others said the spymaster was being refreshingly forthright.

The Prime Minister's Office denied knowledge of Fadden's worries.

Fadden was unapologetic Monday in the face of scathing criticism from New Democrat MP Don Davies, the committee's co-chair.

"Sir, I would put to you that you have created great consternation and anxiety, unwarranted suspicion and an unfounded stain on every municipal elected official in British Columbia — indeed, every provincial cabinet minister in the country," said Davies.

"Do you acknowledge that, sir?"

"No, sir, I do not," was Fadden's reply, adding it should be no surprise that political interference should involve those with "political decision-making authority."

Said Davies: "You have made very serious allegations that have tarred a large number of innocent people and ethnic communities, as well, with suspicion and I think you have an obligation to clear the air."

Fadden was unmoved, saying CSIS is concerned with foreign powers, not ethnic communities in Canada.

"I do not think an apology is necessary," he said.

SPY CHIEF GRILLED OVER SUMMER?

*** Too much secrecy can sometimes be a bad thing. By the way, Fadden has not sunk any ships - he has validated his awareness of the obvious: countries spy on other countries. Canada is one of the greatest in the world - don't tell me we think we're immune from the threat of foreign espionage/interference too! Oh boy, here we go again.... MS ***


FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100704/national/spy_chief_appearance


OTTAWA - Opposition MPs say they might compel testimony from officials in the prime minister's circle in a bid to unravel the mystery of controversial remarks by Canada's spy chief.

When summer beckons, politicians usually busy themselves with grilling burgers on the holiday barbecue circuit.

But on Monday they'll apply the heat to Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Dick Fadden over his recent eyebrow-raising assertion that Canadian politicians are being unduly influenced by a foreign power.

Liberal and New Democrat MPs on the Commons public safety committee said Sunday they haven't ruled out further summer sessions to hear from officials in the Prime Minister's Office or the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic nerve centre of the Harper government.

"It's hard to see it stopping at this," said Liberal MP Mark Holland, a committee vice-chair. "There'll probably be a need to talk to others, including in PCO and in the Prime Minister's Office."

Fadden's words enraged many who said they cast aspersions on all elected officials with ties abroad. Some spywatchers marvelled at Fadden's uncommonly loose lips. Still others said the spymaster was being refreshingly forthright.

Fadden, a veteran bureaucrat who became CSIS boss one year ago, will now have to walk the fine line of satisfactorily explaining his candid remarks without shining an even brighter light on the shadowy confines of his agency's operations.

"Once toothpaste is out of the tube, I think there's a mess to be cleaned up," said New Democrat MP Don Davies, also a public safety committee vice-chair. "You can't just deny that it happened."

Fadden told CBC-TV in a late-June interview that he was in the process of warning two provinces, through the Privy Council Office, that members of their cabinets had come under foreign influence.

Fadden also said CSIS had suspicions about a number of municipal politicians in British Columbia.

He was cagey about the countries involved, but indicated China was a country of concern for the spy service.

On the eve of a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Prime Minister's Office denied knowledge of Fadden's worries.

The CSIS director quickly backpedalled, saying in a statement that he had "not apprised the Privy Council Office of the cases" because they were not "of sufficient concern" to alert provincial authorities.

Fadden said foreign interference is common in many countries around the world and CSIS has been probing such threats for decades.

While he clearly hoped that would end the matter, the controversy only flared.

Holland said Fadden must account for the discrepancies.

"You can forget that you went and got a bag of milk, but you don't forget a conversation with the Prime Minister's Office about foreign governments having influence over Canadian politicians."

Davies said if Fadden tells the committee he did indeed advise Stephen Harper's officials about the alleged foreign interference, "we may very well want to call someone from the PCO."

Fadden's comments were improper, Davies added, but that doesn't mean he should now be able to hide behind the cloak of national security.

The Chinese Canadian National Council called Fadden's remarks "contradictory and harmful," and said if he chooses to make such public comments, "he should direct his allegations at specific groups and individuals."

The council noted early Chinese communities in Canada were subjected to overtly racist laws and experienced tremendous hardships.

"Today we live in a multicultural society. We have the Charter, a more open immigration policy and about 1.5 million Chinese Canadians fully participating in nation building. We've come a long way from those dark days. Or have we?"

Fadden was merely trying to remind people that CSIS is on the lookout for nefarious foreign activities, Liberal Sen. Colin Kenny said in a weekend opinion piece published in the Ottawa Citizen.

"The sad part is that Fadden is now liable to chill into silence," wrote the former chair of the Senate security committee, "and we Canadians will stop learning about what we all need to know."

CSIS BOSS TO APPEAR BEFORE COMMONS COMMITTEE

*** Yeah because its just totally out of the realm of possibility that there are spies and agents looking to influence Canadian policy for their benefit. Now everybody's a national security expert. Pathetic. MS ***

FROM: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/csis-boss-to-explain-allegations-of-foreign-espionage/article1624249/

he head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will be asked to publicly explain his allegations that two unnamed provincial cabinet ministers and a number of municipal politicians from British Columbia are being influenced by foreign governments.

Richard Fadden has been summoned to appear before the Commons Public Safety committee on Monday.

Mr. Fadden caused an uproar last week when the CBC aired an interview in which he talked about the alleged influence and said he had discussed the matter with the Privy Council Office, which is the bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister's Office. He retracted that statement the following day.

Mark Holland, the Liberal Public Safety critic, then circulated a motion to all members of the Public Safety committee asking that it be recalled so MPs could question the CSIS head about the statements. Members of his staff said that, in the end, all parties including the Conservatives agreed that a special meeting should be held and that Mr. Fadden should be called as a witness.

Mr. Fadden did not mention China during the interview with the CBC but did not deny that China was the country that is alleged to be exerting its influence.

Some pundits have speculated that he will lose his job as a result of the loose-lipped remarks. But others say that would be irresponsible given Mr. Fadden’s long and distinguished career as a public servant.

RE: COMMENTS BY CSIS DIRECTOR

*** Hey Globe and Mail: stick to newspapers and leave the foreign influence investigations to those who know what they're talking about. MS ***


FROM: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/csis-director-should-get-smart/article1624971/


The activities of the alleged Russian spies arrested this week in the U.S. are more evocative of the TV comedy Get Smart in the 1960s than of John Le Carré’s novels, but they also invite comparison with the ambiguous but inflammatory allegations about agents of influence that Richard Fadden, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, recently made in a television interview. It is good, therefore, that Mr. Fadden has been called upon to explain his comments on Monday to the public safety committee of the House of Commons.

There is clearly nothing wrong with foreigners having conversations with Americans in the U.S. – the 11 supposed Russian agents accomplished little more – or with Canadians in Canada. They consequently collect information in their memories and sometimes in notebooks. Reporters and diplomats do so as part of their jobs, and so do friendly tourists, for the sake of pleasure and curiosity. Nor is there anything wrong with a Canadian having “quite an attachment” to another country, to borrow a phrase used in an ominous way by Mr. Fadden.

“Influence,” moreover, is an elastic word. Human beings influence each other, usually legitimately. Unfortunately, Mr. Fadden used the word vaguely in the highly charged context of espionage.

But the act of Parliament that governs CSIS may help make sense of what Mr. Fadden said. CSIS has the duty of investigating “threats to the security of Canada.” Among those threats, according to the CSIS Act, are “foreign-influenced activities that are detrimental to the interests of Canada and are clandestine or deceptive.” (The emphasis is added.)

The rather goofy behaviour of the 11 Russian operatives apparently did little damage, but included some false pretences. If this had been going on in Canada, foreign influence by itself would not have engaged CSIS, unless there was a combination of harm and deceptiveness. “The interests of Canada” is not a precise phrase, but deceit is fairly concrete, so this particular statutory definition of one class of threats adds up to a description of activities that do merit some watching.

Fortunately, CSIS is not a police force that can lay criminal charges, but keeping an eye or two on deceptive “foreign-influenced activities” is worthwhile. That does not mean that the Goethe Institute, the Alliance Française, the British Council and indeed the Confucius Institute – seemingly alluded to by Mr. Fadden – are sinister front organizations.

Some of Mr. Fadden’s remarks in his CBC interview were too broad-brush, and others too narrowly directed at small groups – most alarmingly, at provincial cabinet ministers. It is to be hoped that he can rein in his own words, and bring them inside CSIS’s mandate, when he explains himself to a standing Commons committee next week.