A sign for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service building is shown in Ottawa, May 14, 2013.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The issue of senior Canadian politicians getting security clearances returned to headlines after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stood by his refusal to go through the necessary vetting to receive classified briefings on foreign-interference activities in Canada.
The Globe and Mail reported recently that agents of India and their proxies were allegedly involved in raising money and organizing within the South Asian community for Mr. Poilievre during the 2022 Conservative leadership race he won.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said it did not share this information with the Conservative Leader because he does not have the necessary security clearance. He said he won the race soundly and without India’s help.
Mr. Poilievre has repeatedly said a security clearance would compromise his ability to question the government, though his chief of staff has received clearance. The Conservative Leader also said he already had security clearance, when he served in cabinet during former prime minister Stephen Harper’s tenure.
Here’s a look at who qualifies for security clearance, what the screening process entails and how classified information is protected.
Who qualifies for security clearance?
The Globe reached out to the Privy Council Office, which provides support to the prime minister and cabinet to learn about the levels of security clearance held by officials.
According to Daniel Savoie, a spokesperson for the office, some MPs need access to classified information for their parliamentary duties. Not all will qualify for the highest level of clearance, with information shared on a need-to-know basis.
For example, some MPs are dealing with matters of intelligence, such as members of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, which has a mandate to review national security and intelligence operations.
Secret or top-secret clearances are available to MPs, subject to the information that they need to see in order to carry out their work.
Mr. Savoie noted that the “secret” designation applies to information whose unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause serious injury to the national interest.
“Top secret” applies to the very limited amount of information when unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave injury to the national interest, he said.
MPs dealing with national-security files aren’t the only ones who may be granted clearance. CSIS personnel, including cleaning and cafeteria staff, had to get top-secret clearances to work in the spy agency’s headquarters, recalled former agent Huda Mukbil.
“The entire setting is top secret,” she said in an interview. “That’s because you’re going to be privy to highly sensitive information.”
The screening process
Mr. Savoie said the Privy Council follows directives on screening established by the Treasury Board of Canada, which provides guidance on the management of the government.
It involves a rigorous screening that assesses an individual’s “reliability and loyalty to Canada,” through such measures as a security screening form, an inquiry into their finances, a criminal record check and a security assessment by CSIS.
Ms. Mukbil, author of the 2023 book, Agent of Change: My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies and Institutional Racism, said a top-secret clearance takes a probing look at 10 years of the lives of applicants. Polygraphs – or lie detectors – are also involved. She was subject to three such tests to maintain her top-secret security clearance while she was at CSIS between 2001 and 2017.
But Marie-Josée Hogue, the commissioner of the public inquiry on foreign interference, made a key point in her final report that released in January: Most parliamentarians don’t have security clearance.
Protecting classified information
The Privy Council Office says individuals who have security clearances only have access to information if they have a demonstrated need to know the information.
Ms. Mukbil noted that MPs would see reports on intelligence matters, prepared within CSIS, as opposed to the raw intelligence used to inform those reports: “They wouldn’t have access to the same material that intelligence officers or CSIS or national-security professionals would see,” she said.
Individuals also have to protect the information they receive. Options for doing that include only discussing information with people who have similar security clearances or in secure spaces.
Improper handling of information can have legal consequences. Failing to safeguard information, actions to release information or using information for unauthorized purposes can lead to prosecution under various acts, including the Security of Information Act. That legislation, formerly known as the Official Secrets Act, includes provisions for imprisonment and fines.
Ms. Mukbil also noted that security clearances have an expiry date. Clearances for the secret level last for about 10 years. Top-secret clearances last for five years.
What politicians may gain from obtaining clearance
Ms. Mukbil said Mr. Poilievre should get his security clearance, as there’s a consistent, growing threat of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic institutions.
“These efforts are increasingly targeting politicians, political parties, and even our policing and democratic processes. Given this context, it is both responsible and prudent for the Leader of the Opposition to hold an appropriate level of security clearance,” she said in a statement after her interview.
“This would enable access to classified intelligence and security briefings that are not available to the general public but are essential to understanding and responding to these threats effectively.”
While Mr. Poilievre would not be able to publicly disclose classified information, it could inform his approach to various issues, she said.