Decisions
In each review, the Intelligence Commissioner (IC), supported by the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner (ICO), undertakes an in-depth analysis of the application record to determine whether the conclusions of the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Public Safety, and, where applicable the Director of CSIS (decision-makers) are reasonable. If the IC is satisfied that they are, the IC must approve the authorization or determination in a written decision that sets out the reasons for doing so.
The IC Act requires that the IC’s decision be rendered within 30 days after the day on which the IC received notice of the authorization or determination, or within any other period that may be agreed on by the IC and the decision-maker. In the case of an authorization issued by the Director of CSIS for a query of a dataset in exigent circumstances, the IC must render a decision as soon as feasible.
The IC must provide the decision to the concerned minister or to the Director of CSIS. A copy of all the IC’s decisions are subsequently provided to the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, as required by the IC Act.
As part of its support of the Government of Canada’s ongoing commitment to transparency, the ICO has made considerable efforts to publish the IC’s decisions on the ICO website.
