CSIS Head Says Staff Busy Redacting Documents for Inquiry Instead of Collecting Intel on Threats

Dan Rogers (L), deputy national security and intelligence advisor, Privy Council Office; David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency, and Alia Tayyeb, deputy chief of signals intelligence, Communications Security Establishment Canada, appear at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions hearings, in Ottawa on Feb. 1, 2024. Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press

The head of Canada’s spy agency has impressed upon the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference that his experts have been busy applying redactions to documents for the commission instead of collecting intelligence to protect national security.

“They’re being taken away from doing that work” for the “extremely important” work of the commission, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director David Vigneault told the inquiry on Feb. 1.