John Weston: Security for Canadians at home and abroad should be a priority
Credit to Author: Hardip Johal| Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2020 02:00:46 +0000
Recent developments at home and abroad have focused Canadians’ attention on what should be government’s highest priority: to ensure citizens’ security. In addition to strengthening our military, we need to improve our resources in several areas.
Protecting Canadians abroad from kidnapping and unlawful detentions: Our government should act more boldly, with a higher level of accountability to loved ones and be prepared more consistently to cooperate with private-sector experts. At any point there are 2,000 to 3,000 Canadians missing, detained or kidnapped in foreign countries. While most of these are detained in accordance with local law, what about those kidnapped or detained for other reasons? For hostages and loved ones trying to help them, such confinement is an ominous, isolating and expensive ordeal.
Time and again, we have observed that government is hamstrung by conflicting interests, such as trade negotiations or parallel hostage negotiations, when trying to resolve a hostage situation on its own. People united by the effort to release a specific hostage have the advantage of singular focus, a different range of resources, nimbleness, and fewer conflicting interests.
Recent successes in hostage recovery embrace cooperation among families, private-sector negotiators, the media, and the government. Each case of a Canadian taken hostage, kidnapped or unlawfully detained demanded a tailored strategy. Canadians would be safer if our government acted more boldly, with greater accountability, and was more consistently prepared to work hand-in-hand with private-sector experts.
Foreign-influenced activities: The Canadian government needs to wake up to the real threat of foreign-influenced activities, terrorism and espionage, the three primary national security threats facing Canada today. Even before 9/11, most security agency resources focused on terrorism-related investigations. As the terrorist threat decreases, more resources are being slowly shifted to foreign espionage activities in Canada. The Canadian government has managed both terrorism and espionage relatively well.
The third threat, “foreign-influenced activities,” is the least understood and the most serious national security challenge. This term reflects a wide range of activities conducted against Canada by a handful of countries. The recent House of Commons initiative to review the Canada-China relationship is a good start; a more comprehensive assessment of all foreign-influenced activities is needed.
Cyber security: Canada needs a new cyber ecosystem that leverages industry, educational institutions and other parties to supplement government resources. The Associated Press reported recently that “Russia and China are waging a ‘digital war’ with fake news and disinformation to undermine democracy.” Other cyber-threat actors include groups and individuals who aim to exploit our vulnerabilities to inflict physical, financial or other harm.
Our government publishes useful information for Canadians abroad on its website: travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/cyber-safe. What more can we do? Reversing past naive policies that underestimate the determination of other governments to undermine Canadian democracy, government needs to reorganize its cybersecurity resources to improve capacity and flexibility. It should collaborate better with our international partners and local communities. We need a Canadian cyber ecosystem that includes critical infrastructure, intelligence and public awareness. We need legal reform that respects today’s threats and our precious constitutional rights. Most importantly, we have to educate and empower members of the public to prevent and respond to cyber-security threats.
Transnational organized crime: Transnational organized crime in Canada threatens personal and public safety, financial integrity, and national security. Symptoms include the opioid crisis, synthetic drug production and trafficking, money laundering, and gang violence. Canada’s international allies are concerned that we have become a safe haven for transnational organized crime networks. The other Five Eyes countries — United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand — frown on our lack of a national strategy to combat transnational organized crime. A successful effort to mitigate this 21st-century threat will require a legislative review. All federal agencies must also be better integrated among themselves and with provincial and local counterparts.
John Weston practises law at Pan Pacific Law Corp. and served as member of parliament from 2008-2015.