Canada’s senior civil servants have urged their provincial and territorial colleagues to apply for top secret level security clearance as a way to foster a “healthy and transparent dialogue” about foreign interference and other threats.
Privy Council Clerk John Hannaford said in a July 11 letter to heads of civil servants across the country that authorisation would enable the Privy Council Office and other federal security agencies to carry out regular informed briefings.
The briefings will support the efforts of civil service leaders advising state and territory governments on policy development and responses to “significant security events,” Hannaford wrote.
PCO spokesman Daniel Savoie said that as a result of the proposal, “some security clearances have been granted and other reviews are underway.”
Savoie said a similar offer had been made to state premiers on an ad-hoc basis to address specific security briefing needs. “We welcome any requests from state premiers for security clearance.”
The Privy Council Office provided the letter to The Canadian Press upon request.
Hannaford said in the letter that the past year has made it clear that Canada remains a target for foreign interference, terrorism and cyber threat activity.
“Addressing the growing threats posed by a rapidly changing global security environment will require a whole-of-society response, which is why it is even more important now for governments to begin building an informed, healthy and transparent dialogue,” he wrote.
According to the letter, meetings such as the annual gathering of secretaries and ministers could become forums for “frank, non-classified conversations and two-way information sharing” on topics such as foreign interference, espionage, violent extremism, economic security and research security.
“We ask that you undergo the necessary security clearance process to enable these important conversations.”
Extended Security Briefing
Hannaford also offered the option for both sides to appoint a separate senior government official to seek approval to ensure timely information sharing.
The effort to broaden the flow of information comes in the wake of a spate of ransomware attacks on public institutions across the country, as well as heightened awareness of the long-standing threat of foreign interference.
A bill quickly passed by Parliament earlier this year allows the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to disclose classified information outside government agencies in order to make the country more resistant to foreign interference.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May have top secret security clearances and can view classified versions of a recent spy watchdog report on foreign interference that raised concerns about the activities of some lawmakers.
New Democrat lawmaker Jenny Kwan, who has been identified as a target of Chinese influence operations, told a federal inquiry on Wednesday that she had hoped to receive top secret level clearance to read the classified spy watchdog report.
But Kwan suggested the government refused to let her go through that process, saying that even if she had a top secret clearance, she would not have been allowed to see the report because she had no need to know the information.
When asked by the inquiry why he needed to see the report, Kwan replied: “Well, because I’m a target and because I’m a member of parliament.”
