A controversial intelligence-gathering program run by Canada’s foreign affairs ministry operates in a “distinctly grey zone”, puts its officers at risk and breaches global diplomatic conventions, says a damning watchdog report.
Canada’s global security reporting program (GSRP), a critical part of the foreign ministry’s security and intelligence footprint overseas, places officers in countries with “poor human rights records” including Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and China.
The program has received renewed scrutiny in recent months following reports that Michael Spavor, a Canadian jailed in China for nearly three years, was seeking a multimillion-dollar settlement from Canada’s federal government, alleging he “unwittingly” provided intelligence on North Korea to Michael Kovrig, an officer with the GSRP, who then shared that information with Canada and “Five Eyes” allies.
The pair were imprisoned in China from December 2018 to September 2021 and charged with espionage.
The newly revealed investigation by the national security and intelligence review agency uncovered troubling aspects of the program, finding that officers lacked “adequate training” and the program did not have sufficient risk assessment and security protocols within to ensure officers – and their sources – were protected.
In addition, the watchdog warned “it was not clear if all officers understood that once they are no longer afforded diplomatic immunity, a receiving state may seek retaliatory measures against them”.
The report was completed three years ago but a public release was delayed because of concerns over the political sensitivities of Kovrig and Spavor’s arrests and detention in China.
Canada says the program “generates focused diplomatic reporting on security and stability issues in countries of strategic interest to Canada”. These reports are not secret and are read within the foreign affairs ministry and with partner departments.
But the review found that the program “does not have appropriate safeguards in place” regarding the safety of contacts overseas, adding that the GSRP “does not appear to appreciate associated risks” of officers developing a network of sources.
It also warned “the creation of a foreign intelligence entity, within [Global Affairs, the Canadian foreign affairs ministry,] or the allowance of mission creep by the GSRP into covert collection would run against the principles of the Vienna convention” – the global pact that ensures diplomats can work without threat or fear of influence by the host government.
The report also cautioned that GSRP officers relied on the Vienna convention as a “shield” for their actions but did not appreciate the “limitations” of diplomatic immunity.
The oversight agency said perceptions of GSRP activities by receiving nations “have direct implications on reputational risk to Canada and its allies”, concerns echoed by Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst and a professor of international relations at Carleton University.
Carvin said that recent controversy over the program only deepens the need for Canada to better understand how intelligence gathering by the GSRP might be viewed by other countries.
“But it also highlights the consequences of Canada’s indecision of whether or not it wants to have a foreign human intelligence agency,” she said. “Canada may not want an MI6, but it also wants information from people living overseas about the countries they are living in. The resulting situation is very grey.”
In a statement, Global Affairs says it accepts all of the recommendations in the oversight report and “all have either been or are being implemented”.
