Bi-Weekly Briefing- Sept 9-24, 2020
Our Bi-Weekly News Roundups are back! Every two weeks NPSIA MA Student Calum Elliot and MA/JD student Jake Norris break down the most important stories in Canadian national security.
“National Security” Tariffs Lifted
The US dropped its 10% tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel products justified as necessary to secure national security objectives. Both steel and aluminum are considered critical materials during times of war or national emergencies. The national security rationale cites the need for a strong domestic supply of these products to support the US military. Canada is the largest supplier of aluminum and steel to the US Canada’s response, a list of $3.6 billion of retaliatory tariffs on aluminum-containing goods. A trade war between the two countries would further harms economic recovery efforts underway due to COVID-19, and could disrupt supply chains of already struggling Canadian producers. Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows for tariffs where items deemed vital to national security are too dependent upon imports. President Trump claims that between June 2019 and May 2020, Canadian aluminum exports to the U.S. surged by 87%. National security is one of the few justifications for implementing unilateral actions such as tariffs without violating obligations of international law. The tariff withdrawal includes the caveat that Canadian aluminum imports must remain beneath a specific volume to avoid the reimposition of tariffs.
Border Restrictions Extended
With COVID-19 cases surging once more in Canada, officials have extended the US-Canada border closures until October 21, 2020. Canada has 10 653 active cases as of September 22, 2020, while the pandemic situation in the US is well over 2 million active cases. Canadian authorities, including RCMP and CBSA, continue to crack down on American travelers exploiting the Alaska loophole, where travelers tell border officials they are heading directly to Alaska, permitting them to travel through Canadian provinces on their way. Instead, they violate quarantine measures by vacationing in Canada. It is likely borders will remain restricted to non-essential travel through November. While President Donald Trump suggested on September 18 that the borders will reopen “pretty soon,” Canadian polls show strong support for these measures to remain in place at least until the pandemic is deemed as contained. Statistics Canada reports that in August 2020, cross-border automobile traffic saw a decline of 96.4% compared to August 2019.
Army Commander cracking down on Extremism
Lieutenant-General Wayne Eyre, the Commander of the Royal Canadian Army, announced that he will issue a special order providing direction to individual units on how to handle hate and extremism in their ranks. High-profile Canadian incidents have occurred in the recent past, putting a spotlight on the prevalence of far-right extremist ideology within the Canadian Forces. Erik Myggland, a BC-based reservist, maintained his role in the reserves even while explicitly supporting two different far-right organizations (Soldiers of Odin and the Three Percenter Movement.) Another reservist, Corey Hurren, is accused of ramming the gates of Rideau Hall in Ottawa on July 2, 2020, and making threats against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Hurren was also reported as being heavily armed at the time. In a CBC Front Burner interview with defence reporter Murray Brewster, Brewster claimes that members of far-right organizations are joining the military to acquire combat experience and weapons training, in advance of the so-called “race war.” While the Commander of the Army will provide a roadmap for handling these elements as they appear, the Brewster reports that the Federal government is also working on an overall strategy for countering far-right influence in the military.
Intimidation of Canadian based pro- Hong Kong democracy activist
Cherie Wong, a pro-Hong Kong democracy activist based in Canada, claims that he is the target of harassment and even death threats regularly through social media. If true, his claims are an example of foreign influence identified in the CSIS Public Report 2019, where a foreign power attempts to “covertly monitor and intimidate Canadian communities in order to fulfil their own strategic and economic objectives.”
Wong co-founded the group Alliance Canada Hong Kong, which routinely holds demonstrations and events to the ire of supporters of the Chinese Communist Party. It is reported that counter-protestors have attended Hong Kong anti-extradition demonstrations, taking photos of activists and sharing their faces and personal information through online communication channels. Wong specifically cites the counter-protestors as using WeChat channels for these purposes. Threats against relatives of activists living in China or in Hong Kong are also said to be used for intimidation. The Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China and Amnesty International published a report examining growing threats against human rights activists. It made recommendations for Canada to pursue to protect those on Canadian soil against foreign coercion. These include creating a post to specifically handle these issues and to act as a contact for those facing harassment, and independent public inquiry into methods and incidents of interference specific to the education sector, and examining legislation from other countries that could be implemented to counter foreign interference.
Cameron Ortis – What’s next and what went wrong
It has been a year since Cameron Ortis, the RCMP’s former Director General of the National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre, was initially charged under Canada’s Security of Information Act and the Criminal Code. The charges stem from an investigation into Ortis’ alleged attempts to share sensitive materials with, as of yet, unnamed recipients and unidentified foreign entities. Ortis currently faces ten charges.
An independent review conducted by Alphonse MacNeil, a consultant and former RCMP Assistant Commissioner, found that the RCMP failed to act properly when handling complaints about Cameron Ortis. As a result, the RCMP stated that it will create a “management action plan,” though little information about the plan has been shared at this time. The independent review demonstrated failures at every level of leadership within the organization, with senior officials failing to act even after becoming aware of Ortis’ activity and an insufficient screening procedure for leadership positions.
Before the trial can proceed, the Federal Court of Canada must determine what sensitive information can be released for Ortis’ trial and what needs to remain classified. Under Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act, the Attorney General can seek to protect documents otherwise subject to disclosure to the accused if their release could potentially threaten Canadian’s national security, defence or international relations. Given the nature of the allegations and the volume of disclosure that is likely subject to some level of security classification, the Federal Court decision could take “some time.”