Letter to Director of CSIS: Letter 13 in the College of Politicians Series

Attached below is a letter addressed to the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). It makes arguments that politicians are legislating anti-accountability and have practices that decrease public confidence and promote vigilantism.

Enjoy! Thank you :)

Date: Dec 6, 2024. 

Daniel Rogers

Director, Canadian Security Intelligence Service

P.O. Box 9732, Postal Station “T”

Ottawa, Ontario

K1G 4G4

Dear Daniel. 

RE: Foreign Interference (FI) report. 

The FI report linked below says “NSIRA found that CSIS and Public Safety did not have a system for tracking who received and read specific intelligence products, creating unacceptable gaps in accountability” (NSIRA, 2024). I think accountability may be improved with regulation of politicians via a set of practice standards, similar to those used by other professions, such as nurses who have the highest rated honesty and ethics standards (Brenan, 2018). 

One of my main essays on the topic of regulating politicians is addressed to Dr. Teresa Tam, the Chief Medical Officer of Health (Kennedy, 2023). I address a number of issues ranging from racism and professional misconduct, to neglect of long term care residents and The Emergencies Act (used during the pandemic). Their response to my letter was that it was outside of their purview. Given that they lack the authority to investigate, I want to make another argument  – this time to CSIS – for regulating politicians: safety of politicians and the public from vigilantism. 

Vigilantism is a dangerous force that affects the health and safety of politicians and the public within Canada. CSIS itself has observed “a marked increase in violent threats to elected officials and government representatives during the past two years” (Government of Canada, 2022). The report on the freedom convoy/Ottawa siege by Rouleau (2023) found that a lack of confidence in Canadian politicians had contributed to protestors “channel[ing] their grievances through means outside of traditional electoral politics.” It’s reasonable for the public to be frustrated as some politicians are trying to legislate anti-accountability (Ferguson, 2024), and some politicians have lied about their actions and made false allegations regarding their colleagues (Sanders & Robertson, 2022). These behaviours are dangerous to the public and consistent with what NSIRA found in their report, which is that politicians lack an accountability system. If we want to close unacceptable gaps in accountability, they need to look at regulating accountability, such as with practice standards consistent with other professions. 

Nurses for example are self-regulated and have practice standards, not to mention a mandate to protect the public. I believe politicians could potentially self regulate as well. How that self-regulation manifests may likely need to be debated in the legislature, but the lack of an accountability system is not up for debate – politicians need to be regulated to protect the public, to protect national security, and to prevent foreign interference. 

I suggest checking out my other letter for more discussion on the topic. I look forward to hearing your response. 

Thank you. 

[* Letter mailed dec 6, 2024.]

References

Brenan, M. (2018). Nurses Again Outpace Other Professions for Honesty, Ethics [PDF]. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/245597/nurses-again-outpace-professions-honesty-ethics.aspx  

Ferguson, R. (2024). Ford government to ban lawsuits against province if cyclists are hurt or killed on streets where bike lanes were removed. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/vQnFV 

Government of Canada. (2022). Threats to Canada's National Security. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/security-intelligence-service/corporate/publications/csis-2021-public-report/national-security-threats.html 

Kennedy, M. (2023). Letter 12 of College of Politician Series. Retrieved from https://www.limerencepterodactyl.com/main-page/blog-post-title-four-dp25e 

NSIRA. (2024). Review of the dissemination of intelligence on People’s Republic of China political foreign interference, 2018-2023. Retrieved from https://nsira-ossnr.gc.ca/wp-content/uploads/NSIRA-s40-Special-Report-EN.pdf

Rouleau, P. (2023). Report of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order Emergency: Volume 2: Analysis (Part 1). Retrieved from https://publicorderemergencycommission.ca/files/documents/Final-Report/Vol-2-Report-of-the-Public-Inquiry-into-the-2022-Public-Order-Emergency.pdf 

Sanders, C. & Robertson, D. (2022). Premier’s letter to PM contrasts with public remarks about blockade. Retrieved from https://www.brandonsun.com/local/2022/02/15/premiers-letter-to-pm-contrasts-with-public-remarks-about-blockade