New national security law urgently needed
Ottawa, May 6, 2024 – Today’s introduction of Bill C-70, the Countering Foreign Interference Act, will help build a stronger, more secure country at a time of heightened geopolitical risk.
Bill C-70’s modernization of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act – including to authorize CSIS to share threat intelligence with Canadian companies – is urgently needed to protect Canadians’ lives and livelihoods.
Despite CSIS possessing the knowledge and expertise to help Canadian companies withstand growing security threats, CSIS’ outdated legislation means that business leaders are left fending for themselves.
With new threat intelligence sharing authorities, CSIS could communicate more specific and tangible information with Canadian companies. This would give business leaders a clearer understanding of the growing threat, as well as the protective measures that could be taken to better safeguard their employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate.
The BCC is also pleased to see Bill C-70 include additional national security measures called for in our recent report, Economic Security is National Security. This includes the establishment of a foreign influence transparency registry.
If effectively implemented, the new registry could deter states from engaging in hostile activity; enable the earlier, more effective disruption of malicious state behavior; and foster greater resiliency by increasing the public’s awareness of the nature, scale, and extent of foreign state activities in our domestic affairs.
As Bill C-70 works its way through Parliament, the BCC looks forward to working with parliamentarians to ensure this important bill is effective in countering increasingly sophisticated and pervasive threats to Canadians’ way of life.
The BCC will also seek opportunities to advance much-needed national security reforms presently excluded from Bill C-70. This includes measures to expand and reinvigorate Canada’s international security partnerships, as well as bolster those economic and innovative capabilities which are essential to Canada’s economic security.
