The perilous prerogative: An argument for legislating defence intelligence in Canada

Abstract

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) has twice reviewed the intelligence activities of CAF/DND and recommended the government provide explicit legislative authority for those activities. In “Defence intelligence and the Crown prerogative in Canada,” Philippe Lagassé rebukes NSICOP's argument and defends the continued reliance on the Crown prerogative. This article proposes that the critiques raised by Lagassé minimize the importance of the legal and operational concerns raised by NSICOP and do not reflect the legal history of Canadian intelligence activities. It also introduces the argument that the DND/CAF may no longer rely on the Crown prerogative for signals intelligence.