CSIS Had to Make Public Safety Minister ‘Comfortable’ With Wiretap of Ontario Politician: Deputy Minister

CSIS Had to Make Public Safety Minister ‘Comfortable’ With Wiretap of Ontario Politician: Deputy Minister
Rob Stewart (L), former deputy minister of public safety, and Dominic Rochon, a former senior official at Public Safety Canada, appear as witnesses at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa on Oct. 8, 2024. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
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The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had to make then-Public Safety Minister Bill Blair feel “comfortable” with a request for surveillance powers on an Ontario politician, a former top Public Safety official told the Foreign Interference Commission.

The commission has been probing why it took Blair 54 days to approve the 2021 warrant application against a subject whose identity was not revealed during proceedings.