Spying on Canada

The Mark Radio ep.32: Spies from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service could be watching you. But who's watching them?

Everybody loves a spy. "FBI," "CIA," and "NSA" are commonplace acronyms in films, TV shows, books, and video games, but somehow the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (or CSIS) has stayed out of the public eye. Where's our James Bond in a toque, using ski poles to dispatch terrorists bent on blowing up the Peace Tower?

An organization accustomed to flying under the radar of the Canadian public, CSIS was shaken up this summer when a news story broke that could've been penned by Tom Clancy himself. In a televised interview with the CBC, CSIS Director Richard Fadden alleged that two unspecified cabinet ministers were under foreign influence, and then retracted his statement days later. What followed was a deluge of questions and criticisms about Canada's intelligence service.

So what's really going on at CSIS? And who's watching the watchers?

On the show this week, host Chris Mitchell speaks with three experts about Canada's spy services:

First up, Martin Rudner, professor emeritus at Carleton University, and founding director of the Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies, lays out exactly what CSIS is and how its role has evolved from the Cold War to the war on terror.

Journalist Andrew Mitrovica warns that the only organization keeping tabs on CSIS these days is the media.

Finally, David Murakami Wood explains how CCTV footage of you could end up in the Chinese government's hands.

(Run-time: 28m30.)

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