Spy agency about to become a 'disruptive' influence
by Ian MacLeod
Published on: January 30, 2015Last Updated: January 30, 2015 8:17 PM EST
Canada’s lead spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, will gain some real cloak-and-dagger clout under the Conservatives’ proposed Anti-terrorism Act.
The government’s sweeping package of anti-terror measures tabled in the House of Commons Friday would, among other things, give the organization broad powers to “disrupt threats to the security of Canada,” including terrorism, espionage, sabotage, foreign-influenced activities, and domestic subversion.
Bill C-51 would amend the 31-year-old CSIS Act to authorize agents to secure warrants to enter “any place or open or obtain access to anything, or install, maintain or remove any thing.”It would also authorize the service to “do any other thing that is reasonably necessary to take those measures.”
What’s more, the law would compel individuals and organizations, from landlords to telecoms, to abide by any CSIS request for assistance in carrying out the so-called “disruption techniques.”
“This allows them to do some pretty concrete measures,” said Christian Leuprecht, a national security expert at Kingston’s Royal Military College and Queen’s University.
Experts have suspected for years that CSIS agents have engaged in some “disruption techniques.” Even the service readily admits it conducts electronic surveillance, mail openings and covert searches, but only when authorized by a Federal Court warrant.
Thenew law will considerably broaden the scope of those activities. Clues about what they could involve can be gleaned from RCMP disruptions of suspected terror operations.
Policedisruptiontechniques, aside from arrests, typically range from covert and overt search-and-seizure raids to “intrusive surveillance” in which police make it obvious to suspects they are being watched. Disruption without charges or prosecutions is a controversial practice that some believe strips suspects of the legal right to due process.
Critics also believe it is sometimes abused by government security intelligence officers who do not have sufficient evidence to request that police mount criminal investigations and prosecutions.
A case is considered disrupted when police remove an individual or group’s known capability to operate within Canada.
In 2010, for example, policecovertly entered the Ottawa home of a terror suspect in the “Project Samossa”investigationand replaced 56 computer circuitboards, believed to be ready for a bombing campaign, with identical, but non-operable ones. British security agents used a similar tactic in the case of Ottawa terrorist Momin Khawaja. The agents slipped into a warehouse where Khawaja and other members of a London-based jihadi cell were storing three tons of explosive fertilizer and replaced it with a similar-looking but non-explosivematerial.
Other times, authorities will seize a shipment of materials heading overseas, replace the contents with a non-usable facsimile, then monitor where the shipment travels and who comes in contact with it.
Disruptions typically fall into three categories:
– Operational disruptions, which are usually a police domain, almost always involve arrests and charges, and target the instruments or processes behind a suspect terrorist group or individual.
– Personnel disruptions, which target individuals in a group or acting alone and can involve laying criminal charges not directly related to terrorism. Thesealso could, for example, involve placing a person’s name on Canada’sno-flylist as a suspected threat to aviation security.
– Financial disruptions, which target the ability to fund an operation. For example, the RCMP launched raids in 2006 and 2008 against the property and bank accounts of the Toronto and Montreal offices of the World Tamil Movement, which the Mounties say is the Canadian financial and propaganda support wing of the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
CSIS, not the RCMP,appears to be the big winner with the government’s legislation. (Another government bill, C-44, expandingother CSIS powers, is also before Parliament.)
“I would think that the RCMP may not be all that happy,” said Kent Roach, a national security scholar at the University of Toronto. “They’ve gotten tinkering (under the bill) on peace bonds and preventive arrest, but that’s not nearly as much as CSIS got.”
Last week, Richard Fadden, a former CSIS director, took over as the prime minister’s national security adviser.
How to Write a News Story[1]
Here's something very few people realise: Writing news stories isn't particularly difficult. It does take practice and not everyone will be an expert but if you follow the guidelines below you should be able to create effective news items without too much stress.
The Five "W"s and the "H"
This is the crux of all news - you need to know five things:
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Any good news story provides answers to each of these questions. You must drill these into your brain and they must become second nature.
For example, if you wish to cover a story about a local sports team entering a competition you will need to answer these questions:
· Who is the team? Who is the coach? Who are the prominent players? Who are the supporters?
· What sport do they play? What is the competition?
· Where is the competition? Where is the team normally based?
· When is the competition? How long have they been preparing? Are there any other important time factors?
· Why are they entering this particular competition? If it's relevant, why does the team exist at all?
· How are they going to enter the competition? Do they need to fundraise? How much training and preparation is required? What will they need to do to win?
The Inverted Pyramid
This refers to the style of journalism which places the most important facts at the beginning and works "down" from there. Ideally, the first paragraph should contain enough information to give the reader a good overview of the entire story. The rest of the article explains and expands on the beginning.
A good approach is to assume that the story might be cut off at any point due to space limitations. Does the story work if the editor only decides to include the first two paragraphs? If not, re-arrange it so that it does.
The same principle can apply to any type of medium.
More Tips
· It's About People
News stories are all about how people are affected. In your sports story, you might spend some time focusing on one or more individuals, or on how the team morale is doing, or how the supporters are feeling.
· Have an Angle
Most stories can be presented using a particular angle or "slant". This is a standard technique and isn't necessarily bad - it can help make the purpose of the story clear and give it focus. Examples of angles you could use for your sports story:
"Team Tackles National Competition"
"Big Ask for First-Year Coach"
"Local Team in Need of Funds"
· Keep it Objective
You are completely impartial. If there is more than one side to the story, cover them all. Don't use "I" and "me" unless you are quoting someone. Speaking of quoting...
· Quote People
For example: "We're really excited about this competition," says coach Bob Dobalina, "It's the highest target we've ever set ourselves".
· Don't Get Flowery
Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Don't use lots of heavily descriptive language. When you've finished, go through the entire story and try to remove any words which aren't completely necessary.
[1] Source: www.MediaCollege.com