Canada's spy agency can listen to terror suspects overseas

Canada's intelligence agency, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has now been given the right to listen in on phone calls of terror suspects overseas, a federal court ruled on Tuesday.

CSIS can now listen to Canadians who communicate abroad and pose a possible terrorist risk to national security, according to The National Post. A Federal Court made its final ruling on Tuesday approving CSIS warrants to eavesdrop on Canadians, specifically two Canadians who went abroad in early 2009. Manon Berube, the CSIS spokesperson, said, “The ruling is important because it recognizes that security threats are global and highly mobile. In our view this decision recognizes that security threats move easily from one country to another and that countering those threats requires a new approach” However, according to The Globe and Mail, the warrants will be used dominantly for international surveillance and intelligence gathering and not criminal prosecutions. CSIS will hire Communications Security Establishment, which is based in Ottawa, to spy on telephone conversations. The 41-page ruling gives the power to CSIS to investigate two Canadians who are suspected to train, participate in overseas conflicts or meet co-terrorist conspirators. Prior to the final decision, the Federal Court was reluctant in the past because they said they had no jurisdiction to decree on such a matter. Nevertheless, Justice Mosley said this case was different because the eavesdropping was to transpire in Canada and does not violate the sovereignty of foreign nations, according to the Ottawa Citizen, “As facts of the present application disclose, individuals who pose a threat to the security of Canada may move easily and rapidly from one country to another and maintain lines of communication with others of like mind.”