Date of Publishing:
Notification Letter
Dear Minister Blair,
I am writing on behalf of the Members of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) to inform you that NSIRA has initiated a review of the Department of National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces’ Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Activities.
This review is being conducted pursuant to paragraph 8(1)(b) of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Act (NSIRA Act). The NSIRA Act grants NSIRA full and timely access to all information held by reviewed departments and agencies, including classified and privileged information, with the exception of Cabinet confidences.
NSIRA will review the reasonableness, necessity, and compliance with applicable legislation, ministerial direction, internal policies, directives, orders, regulations, guidance, and doctrine of DND/CAF’s open-source intelligence activities.
NSIRA will engage with your officials regarding this review. As the review progresses, NSIRA’s review team will be in regular contact with them with requests for information. Such requests may involve documents, system access, written explanations, briefings, interviews, surveys, and any other information that NSIRA determines to be of relevance to this review. This review may also include independent inspections of some technical systems. NSIRA’s expectations for responsiveness are available online at https://nsira-ossnr.gc.ca.
I thank you in advance for your cooperation and support to the independent review process, which is key to transparency and democratic accountability.
Sincerely,
The Honourable Marie Deschamps, C.C.
Chair // National Security and Intelligence Review Agency
