Minister lacked details about CSIS operation linked to asset who reportedly smuggled teens

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A federal watchdog agency found a breakdown of ministerial accountability after reviewing a clandestine operation abroad connected to claims a CSIS operative smuggled teenage girls into Syria to join ISIS.
The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) released a heavily redacted version of a top-secret report last week. CBC News has now learned what case triggered the review.
The report found CSIS failed to give the public safety minister enough details about the active operation. A CSIS memo also didn't convey past issues, and that a number of CSIS activities are "problematic and potentially unlawful," to help guide his scrutiny of the proposed operation, the report said.
Then prime minister Justin Trudeau was also kept in the dark, the report said.
"CSIS's claim that the prime minister was inadequately briefed understates the matter; there is no indication that the prime minister had any awareness of this operation," NSIRA's report says.
Trudeau faced questions from the media in 2022 about the secret operation after Canada's involvement was exposed by U.K.-based investigative journalists. The rare reporting accused Canada of trying to cover up its involvement and raised questions about if its activities went too far. Two of the teens are now believed to be dead.
Allegations about Canada's involvement
Some of the allegations stem from writer Richard Kerbaj's book The Secret History of the Five Eyes, about Western intelligence agencies.
The book claims that while police in England were frantically searching for three teenage girls — Shamima Begum, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana — Canada withheld information about their whereabouts.
Canada brought on Syrian-born Mohammed al-Rashed as an intelligence asset, the book said. Al-Rashed also reportedly worked for ISIS and applied for political asylum in Canada to start a new life.
The book alleges al-Rashed was allegedly involved in smuggling of the British teens from Turkey into Syria to join ISIS.
The BBC's Joshua Baker told CBC News he reviewed files that show al-Rashed claimed to have shared Begum's passport details with his Canadian handler. He also spoke to Begum for his podcast I'm Not a Monster and she said it would have been impossible to get into Syria without al-Rashed's help.
Kerbaj's book claims it was only after CSIS learned al-Rashed had been arrested — and the case would go public — that CSIS officers disclosed Canada's involvement to local police, hoping to avoid accountability.
Sultana and Abase are believed to have died. Begum, who reportedly married an ISIS fighter, was stripped of her U.K. citizenship and is detained in Syria.
Trudeau promised to look into claims
Trudeau publicly promised to look into the operation in 2022 after international headlines accused Canada of working with Britain to cover up its involvement.
In response, then public safety minister Marco Mendicino asked NSIRA launch a review into CSIS's handling of human sources, how risks are managed and how the minister is informed.
After repeated requests about the status of that review, NSIRA sent CBC News a copy of the report that it publicly released last week.
The "top secret" report redacted the code name for the operation and details.
NSIRA will not confirm or deny the operation in the report, saying it's classified. But unredacted details and the timeline of the period reviewed, January 2015 to July 2023, match the case. The British teens went missing in February 2015.
CSIS operations can span years and evolve over time, involving many different people.
CSIS 'occasionally' involved in illegal activity
The report revealed broadly that CSIS human sources have "occasionally been involved in unlawful activities" over the past 35 years. The public safety minister received memos about high-risk former or active CSIS human sources as recently as this year, the report said.
But the report said the Public Safety Department believed the risk rating assigned to this overseas operation was "flawed."
NSIRA found the CSIS risk assessment followed the established process, but that Public Safety Canada isn't contributing enough to the assessments and is dependent on CSIS for information.
During a briefing, CSIS reassured the minister "that the operation was not unusual, and pointed out that the operation was not high risk," the report said.
But NSIRA found CSIS "neglected" to inform the minister about all the details because the spy agency believed the information wasn't relevant.
The review said that a CSIS memo for the minister contained "incomplete information" and failed to convey the legal risks and past problems that would have helped "guide the minister's scrutiny of CSIS's proposed operation."
Halting operation created 'unnecessary danger'
It also appears that long after the girls were smuggled into Syria and al-Rashed was arrested, the operation in some form was temporarily halted after questions were raised. A team was told the operation was "delayed," the report said.
Jody Thomas, who was Trudeau's National Security and Intelligence Advisor (NSIA), said she had "no levers to stop an operation," but did ask questions this year about the operation on behalf of government departments.
The questions wouldn't have been necessary if CSIS had shared more information with the minister, she said.
"I asked questions — as is the function of the NSIA, to ensure full consultation with other departments," Thomas told CBC News. "When the questions were answered, the operation proceeded as planned."
As previously reported, the review found that halting the operation "created unnecessary danger" and "caused harm to Canada's international reputation."
It's unclear what questions were asked. NSIRA said it couldn't say anything more than what's in the report.
The review concluded that the "system of ministerial accountability for CSIS is in need of serious attention."
The watchdog issued six recommendations to strengthen accountability, improve information-sharing within government, address issues with risk assessments and clarify the minister's role.
In a statement, CSIS said it's reviewing the report with other government departments before issuing a response.
The spy agency said "all CSIS activities must comply with Canadian law" and are subject to "rigorous review and oversight." The organization also said it takes measures to ensure the safety of CSIS's human sources.