Recent from talks
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP; French: Comité des parlementaires sur la sécurité nationale et le renseignement; CPSNR) is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agencies. The committee also performs strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which national security activities are conducted.
Formed in 2017, members of NSICOP are appointed from members of Parliament's two chambers on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition party. Members must obtain and maintain top secret security clearance. NSICOP is not a standing committee nor a special committee of Parliament. Rather, it is an agency of the executive branch, itself overseen by the Prime Minister's Office, whose membership is made up of parliamentarians, unlike similar bodies in other Five Eyes countries – such as the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the United States, the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament in the United Kingdom or the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in Australia.
The NSICOP has a broad government-wide mandate to scrutinize any national security matter. The committee is empowered to perform reviews of national security and intelligence activities including ongoing operations, and strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which these activities are conducted. It also conducts reviews of matters referred by a minister. The committee provides oversight to at least 17 federal agencies involved in security issues, including:
Established in 2019, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) reviews all national security and intelligence activities carried out by the Government of Canada. The NSICOP has a mandate to review the legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative and financial framework for national security and intelligence in Canada, as well as departmental activities related to national security and intelligence. NSICOP reviews tend to be more strategic than those of NSIRA, which undertakes detailed reviews of specific activities with a strong emphasis on legal compliance. In practice, the two review bodies complement each other and provide Canadians with comprehensive and multi-faceted scrutiny of the government's secret activities. NSIRA and the NSICOP may exchange classified information, and are required by statute to cooperate in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.
The committee is supported by a secretariat with an executive director, who has the rank of a deputy minister.
The committee is a statutory committee made up of parliamentarians, but it is an independent agency whose members are appointed by and administratively housed within the executive branch rather than within the structures of Parliament. This structure is designed to give the committee a high-degree of independence and access to classified government information, while providing for necessary controls on the use and disclosure of this information.
The committee consists of a chair and ten other members, three from the Senate and seven from the House of Commons (with a maximum of five members from the House of Commons from the governing party). Members are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the prime minister.
Committee members are required to obtain a Top Secret security clearance and swear an oath of secrecy before assuming their position on the committee, and they also must maintain the confidentiality of information they receive for the rest of their lives, and any breach will open the door to criminal prosecution under the Criminal Code. The act purports to limit parliamentary privilege, however section 12 of the statute, which imposed this restriction, was struck down by the Ontario Superior Court for being unconstitutional in 2022. This means a member who discloses classified information on the floor of the House or Senate can not be prosecuted.
Hub AI
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians AI simulator
(@National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians_simulator)
National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP; French: Comité des parlementaires sur la sécurité nationale et le renseignement; CPSNR) is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agencies. The committee also performs strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which national security activities are conducted.
Formed in 2017, members of NSICOP are appointed from members of Parliament's two chambers on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition party. Members must obtain and maintain top secret security clearance. NSICOP is not a standing committee nor a special committee of Parliament. Rather, it is an agency of the executive branch, itself overseen by the Prime Minister's Office, whose membership is made up of parliamentarians, unlike similar bodies in other Five Eyes countries – such as the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the United States, the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament in the United Kingdom or the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in Australia.
The NSICOP has a broad government-wide mandate to scrutinize any national security matter. The committee is empowered to perform reviews of national security and intelligence activities including ongoing operations, and strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which these activities are conducted. It also conducts reviews of matters referred by a minister. The committee provides oversight to at least 17 federal agencies involved in security issues, including:
Established in 2019, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) reviews all national security and intelligence activities carried out by the Government of Canada. The NSICOP has a mandate to review the legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative and financial framework for national security and intelligence in Canada, as well as departmental activities related to national security and intelligence. NSICOP reviews tend to be more strategic than those of NSIRA, which undertakes detailed reviews of specific activities with a strong emphasis on legal compliance. In practice, the two review bodies complement each other and provide Canadians with comprehensive and multi-faceted scrutiny of the government's secret activities. NSIRA and the NSICOP may exchange classified information, and are required by statute to cooperate in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.
The committee is supported by a secretariat with an executive director, who has the rank of a deputy minister.
The committee is a statutory committee made up of parliamentarians, but it is an independent agency whose members are appointed by and administratively housed within the executive branch rather than within the structures of Parliament. This structure is designed to give the committee a high-degree of independence and access to classified government information, while providing for necessary controls on the use and disclosure of this information.
The committee consists of a chair and ten other members, three from the Senate and seven from the House of Commons (with a maximum of five members from the House of Commons from the governing party). Members are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the prime minister.
Committee members are required to obtain a Top Secret security clearance and swear an oath of secrecy before assuming their position on the committee, and they also must maintain the confidentiality of information they receive for the rest of their lives, and any breach will open the door to criminal prosecution under the Criminal Code. The act purports to limit parliamentary privilege, however section 12 of the statute, which imposed this restriction, was struck down by the Ontario Superior Court for being unconstitutional in 2022. This means a member who discloses classified information on the floor of the House or Senate can not be prosecuted.