Chief Says CSEC Did Everything in Obedience to Canada’s Law

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Chief of the Canada’s recently besieged electronic eavesdropping agency accused of having had spied on Brazil, John Forster, has recently mentioned in a statement that all foreign-intelligence gathering activities carried out by the Communications Security Establishment are conducted within the boundaries of law imposed by this country’s Parliament.

Mr. Forster has publicly discussed the issue for the first time since a Brazilian TV station accused the agency of having carried out industrial espionage against Brazil’s government. The claims cited sources from leaked documents first obtained by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden. Speaking on the matter, Mr. Foster alleged that “our first mandate, our foreign signals intelligence role, is certainly being talked about – a lot – in the media right now.” Mr. Forster was addressing a conference on technology and government in Ottawa on Wednesday, when he stated that “because of the classified nature of our work, I am sure you can appreciate that I can’t say much. [But] everything that CSE does in terms of foreign intelligence follows Canadian law.”

Allegations against the firm were made by a Brazilian news program, Fantastico, on Oct. 7, which included a slide presentation that shows CSEC surveyed the telecommunications of the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy. While still at the Government Technology Exhibition and Conference, Mr. Forster revealed that “everything we do, and I mean everything we do, is reviewed by an independent CSE Commissioner. He and his office have full access to all records, systems and staff to ensure that we follow all Canadian laws, and that we respect Canadians’ privacy.”