A former top advisor to the prime minister on national security matters says he is “not surprised” that crucial intelligence about a Beijing threat to MPs did not reach the higher echelons of government.
“The July 2021 report on the targeting of Mr. Chong and other individual MPs was produced and distributed after my departure,” former National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA) Vincent Rigby told a House of Commons committee on June 8.
“But I am not surprised that this intelligence was not raised to the political level. This is where the system is particularly weak.”
The report refers to a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) assessment of Beijing threats to MPs, including Conservative Michael Chong, which reached the NSIA’s office within the Privy Council Office (PCO) but was never briefed to the prime minister.
The Globe and Mail first reported on the assessment on May 1, setting off a chain of events leading to the Procedure and House Affairs committee being given a mandate by the Commons to investigate the matter.
Rigby said that the intelligence community produces thousands of reports monthly. He estimated having read between five and seven thousand of those during his term.
But the former public servant noted that a formal system to flag important pieces of intelligence to elected officials is absent. “What we had was ad hoc, and it wasn’t consistent. I knew there was a problem.”
Rigby said he subsequently created an intelligence committee for deputy ministers. He told the June 8 committee that this was far from enough to fix the issue, noting a reform was necessary. Some of his recommendations include creating a director of national intelligence position within PCO, separate from the NSIA, to carry functions similar to that of its U.S. counterpart.
Rigby also said there should be a cabinet committee chaired by the prime minister, composed of ministers with intelligence portfolios, to meet regularly and discuss national security matters before they reach a crisis stage and have to be addressed in the Incident Response Group.
“We are the only Five Eyes country that doesn’t have that type of a body,” said Rigby, in reference to Canada’s intelligence alliance with Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.
PM’s Intel Habits
Rigby also provided details on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s intelligence consumption habits during the former’s time as NSIA. He said that Trudeau would not typically receive the Daily Foreign Intelligence Briefs (DFIB) produced by the Intelligence Assessment Secretariat (IAS) of PCO, and instead read a weekly briefing package provided to him by IAS.Rigby said he couldn’t recall that specific item, “so it would be very difficult to categorically say that it automatically went from the daily to the weekly.”
Johnston recommended against holding an inquiry into election interference, finding the government was not negligent in dealing with the issue, but he noted serious shortcomings in how intelligence is transferred from security agencies to the political level, with little accountability on who consumes what.
