The Social Cost of National Security Symposium: Accountability with a Pinch of Context and a Dash of Fire and Brimstone

Abstract

This article is developed from a symposium presentation in 2012. In it, I discuss accountability and national security. I have three objectives. First, I wish to describe briefly the unusual challenges of understanding the “positive” law in the area of national security. Second, I wish to acknowledge my impression that much of what we call “accountability” in this area actually takes place internally in government, and at a level difficult for outsiders to discern. Third, I wish to discuss two key arm’s length instruments of accountability – the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) and the Federal Court. In this last section, I will convey my sense of the challenges they confront in performing their functions.

Keywords: national security law, Canada, accountability, review