LTTE Tigers Released in Canada?
The sudden release of 25 individuals from the immigration detention centre in British Columbia underlines weaknesses in Canada’s immigration and intelligence services.
These twenty five individuals were part of a larger group of seventy six individuals who were trying to enter Canada illegally on a ship known as the “Ocean Lady.” The ship had been registered as the “Princess Easwary” and it was used by the Tamil Tigers to smuggle weapons from North Korea to Sri Lanka. On board were probably both genuine refugees and terrorists, including at least one member of the suicide squad of the LTTE wanted by INTERPOL. The LTTE, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, is a proscribed terrorist group in Canada as well as some thirty one other countries, including all of the European Union.
What are the major weaknesses which allow for such situations to develop? Most of the problems are systemic and not related to the individuals that work for the Canadian Border Services Agency (CSBA) or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service(CSIS).
The most serious fault lies directly with the government and its lack of political will to set up a foreign intelligence service. While a series of Liberal and Conservative governments have discussed this idea, it has never happened. As such, Canada lacks the ability to collect or share intelligence in an independent manner on issues of international concern. We are unable to enforce our own sovereignty as a result and are dependent on intelligence provided to us by other countries. Unfortunately, other countries usually have their own interests at heart, and not ours. As such, it is difficult to tell if the intelligence they are providing is accurate, or if the aim is to gain influence through unreliable or slanted intelligence.
The second main problem is that Canada also does not have a well funded think tank that is capable of working on global issues of concern such as terrorism, transnational organized crime, illegal migration or women-in-slavery. As such, there is no pool of qualified experts who can independently guide the criminal, federal or immigration courts on issues of concern. All too often, we are dependent on bringing in experts from “over there” rather than using home grown knowledge and skills from “over here.” Again, many of the same problems arise when the courts or hearings are asked to depend on foreign based information. The hearings of the “Ocean Lady” case underlined this problem again.
The last problem is also internal to the government. All too often, government promotion and posting systems move analysts around from job to job. No overall plan overall plan appears to exist on how to develop the necessary skills and capabilities to have these individuals appear as court experts or witnesses for the courts. Without this ability to express and defend the views of the intelligence community in a credible manner, the intelligence community as a whole loses credibility and influence.
One partial solution to the problem may be in the making, however. The Air India Commission of Inquiry, headed by Mr. Justice Major, will soon release its much awaited report. During testimony, several witnesses suggested that the government should put funding into place for a transnational terrorism and counter radicalization think tank. This suggestion appears to have been well received by the Commission, although the report has not yet been released. If the recommendation for a think tank is in the report, and if the government funds it, then Canada will take one more small step towards developing an ability to defend its sovereignty on matters of international conflict.
The opinions expressed in this blog are personal and do not reflect the views of either Global Brief or the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs.
