An unserious 'national security' culture

Gary Anandasangaree is Canada's Public Safety Minister. You're kidding, right?

Gary Anandasangaree’s appointment as the minister in Mark Carney’s cabinet overseeing national security and law enforcement has understandably raised some eyebrows.

Among other things, his appointment well illustrates the reason why Canada is described in a recently redacted CSIS assessment as a country widely perceived in the international community as a “permissive operating environment” for hostile foreign states whose clandestine activities here are “low-risk, high-reward operations.”

Below is a guest post illuminating the unprecedented awkwardness of Anandasangaree’s appointment as the minister responsible for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.

By appointing Anandasangaree as Public Safety minister, it’s necessary to ask: Just how unserious about national security can you get?

Paying some proper attention to this weird business is not “racist” or “xenophobic,” nor a plot to undermine the reputation of Tamil Canadians, and there is no “racialized narrative” involved here. The Canadian Tamil Collective and its affiliates should be ashamed of themselves for making such claims.

To the purpose of resisting bullying and intimidation of this sort, what follows is a guest post about Anandasangaree’s appointment, by Phil Gurski and Nelly Shin.

Phil is president of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting and the author of several books on terrorism. He’s a former senior strategic analyst with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and senior advisor in the National Security Directorate at Public Safety Canada. Phil’s an old friend of the Real Story newsletter.

Nelly is a former Conservative MP (2019-2021) who more recently completed studies in National Security and Intelligence at the University of Ottawa. Nelly appeared here at the Real Story in January 2024 with a guest post making the case for a safe and fair process for victims of transnational repression at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference.

Just how frivolous is Canada in the matter of national security?

by Phil Gurski and Nelly Shin

A recent series of Global News reports have addressed concerns about Canada’s current Public Safety Minister, Gary Anandasangaree, and his past ties with the Tamil Tigers - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a designated terrorist entity that Canada listed on April 8, 2006. The LTTE was last reviewed on June 7, 2024 and remains listed.

A former CSIS executive states in one of the Global News reports, “the main issue,” for CSIS, was Anandasangaree’s “fundraising for the Tamil Tigers.” While it is not confirmed that Mr. Anandasangree’s activism on behalf of Tamil separatists extended to raising money on behalf of the terrorist-listed LTTE, the minister’s associations, actions and public statements do raise several troubling questions.

When questioned by reporters, Mr. Anandasangaree responded this way:

“In an abundance of caution, and to ensure that there is no perception of any conflict, I have asked Public Safety officials to implement a screen on any national security issues relating to the Tamil community.”

For his part, Prime Minister Carney defended Mr. Anandasangaree’s statement. He commended him for “having the highest standard of integrity” and having taken “the right decision in his judgment.”

So he won’t get involved in certain files. All is good, right?

Here’s the fine print . . .

This apparent “conflict of interest” screen is merely a band-aid. We’re dealing with a complex problem that requires more transparency and due process. What is urgently required is immediate clarity on several issues pertaining to accountability and the rule of law.

Mr. Anandasangaree was elected to Parliament in 2015. If Canada’s intelligence apparatus flagged Mr. Anandasangaree’s support for a designated terrorist organization, how did he slip through the cracks all these years?

Was Mr. Anandasangaree’s alleged fundraising support for a terrorist entity properly handled by the appropriate authorities? If so, what was the outcome? If allegations of support for a terrorist entity weren’t dealt with, why not?

Will the authorities undergo due process on this case despite the time lapse? Were Justin Trudeau, Mark Carney, and/or the Liberal Party of Canada aware of Mr. Anandasangaree’s activities with the LTTE? Are they willing to undergo due process with the appropriate authorities to bring clarity to the public?Was Mr. Anandasangaree screened before his cabinet appointment as Minister of Public Safety?

Holding that cabinet portfolio means Mr. Anandasangaree is responsible for Canada’s national security and federal law enforcement. This includes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). These organizations are tasked with tackling today’s complex threat environment of foreign interference, transnational organized crime, terrorism, the fentanyl crisis, human trafficking and Canada-US cooperation on these matters.

Canada requires a Public Safety Minister who can garner the trust of the public, our Five Eyes partners, and our uniformed and covert officers who put themselves in harm’s way each day to protect Canadians and safeguard our national interests.

Section 83:01 to 83:27 of the Criminal Code defines terrorism and criminalizes support for terrorist entities. It is unfitting and dangerous to allow any MP or Cabinet Minister to receive classified intelligence and access constituency data while alleged to have supported a terrorist entity. In Canada, the rule of law is applicable to people of all demographics. This includes politicians.

Additionally, a Cabinet Minister needs to be willing to deal with ALL issues of an assigned portfolio. A portfolio shouldn’t be modified to suit a Minister who is unable to tackle all files in an assigned portfolio. Canadians deserve a Minister who can confidently oversee Canada’s public safety without any impairment.

Prior to his election as MP, Mr. Anandasangaree was a Tamil community activist, but it’s not his advocacy for his diaspora community that raises concern. It is appropriate and important for our growing multiculturalism to have voices in different tiers of government to reflect our ethnic diversity.

The cloud hanging over Mr. Anandasangaree’s appointment concerns affiliations with an unlawful contingency connected to terrorism.

Anti-terrorism laws and designations are drawn with thoughtful consideration to threats posed by specific entities engaged in terrorism. Terrorism laws target threat actors and supporters, not entire communities or ideological groups whose intentions and activities have no ties to designated threat actors.

A past communiqué produced by Canada’s Public Safety Minister in 2008 states that representatives of the Toronto-based World Tamil Movement (WTN), also a designated terrorist entity, “canvas areas in Canada with large Tamil populations demanding large donations on behalf of the LTTE. Refusal to contribute often lead to threats and intimidation.”

As Mr. Anandasanagaree defends his position to carry on as Minister of Public Safety, at the very least it is evident he lacks the seriousness and sensibility required to cultivate a credible national security culture.

Canada has long been criticized by the U.S. - Democrats and Republicans - and by our Five Eyes partners, for national security shortcomings. Political interference and dismissive handling of national security issues by our elected officials is unfair to the sacrifice and dedication of our secret service. It is detrimental to Canada’s resilience as a sovereign state. Thus, it is important for Canada to examine Mr. Anandasangaree’s terrorism ties with sobriety and contrition, even if it is an issue of the past. It is not a laissez-faire matter.

A redacted CSIS intelligence assessment exhibited at the recent Public Inquiry on Foreign Interference asserts: “Foreign states perceive Canada as a permissive operating environment where their activities are considered as low-risk, high-reward operations.”

The public needs clarity from CSIS, RCMP, and the Liberal Party of Canada about the allegation of Mr. Anandansangaree’s support for the LTTE and the scope of his involvement with the terrorist organization. Failure to do so adds more fodder to our international reputation for lacking a mature national security culture.

If the Prime Minister takes on the attitude of, “There’s nothing to see here, folks. Let’s all move on,” as his predecessor did, then Canada’s security will continue to erode.

A course correction is the only redemptive path forward.