A Podcast Called INTREPID

In this podcast, Stephanie sits down with Gerry Butts, vice chairman and a senior advisor at Eurasia Group, to talk about recent developments in Europe and what the war in Ukraine means for global stability. In particular, they discuss problems relating to energy, food and whether or not the West can stay united in what is increasingly becoming a protracted conflict. Please note this podcast was recorded June 24, 2022.

Diplomacy goes well beyond diplomats – so what is the role of a defence attaché (or in the case of a Commonwealth country, defence advisor) anyway? In this episode Stephanie speaks with UK Brigadier General Doug Gibson about his role in Canada, UK-Canada defence cooperation, the 2021 UK Foreign Policy and Defence Review (linked below), NATO expansion and the war in Ukraine, declassification and prebunking in the information space and more!Please note that this podcast was recorded on June 6 2022 and reflect events up to that date.2021 UK Integrated Review of  Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/global-britain-in-a-competitive-age-the-integrated-review-of-security-defence-development-and-foreign-policy

Craig and Stephanie are joined by former National Security and Intelligence Advisor Vincent Rigby and uOttawa colleague and frequent INTREPID contributor Thomas Juneau to discuss a May 2022 report on reforming Canadian national security. The uOttawa Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) convened a task force of former senior government officials to recommend the path forward on Canadian national security policy and reform. Their report makes a series of recommendations on strategy, tools, governance, and transparency. In this podcast, Messieurs Rigby and Juneau walk through their key observations. The report is here.

In this episode, Stephanie is joined by Intrepid contributor, Thomas Juneau, Major-General Michael Wright, Chief of Defence Intelligence and Commander of Canadian Forces Intelligence Command (CFINTCOM), and Ms. Christine Kennedy, Assistant Chief of Defence Intelligence. The four get into a detailed discussion of what CFINTCOM does, how it is structured and how it is evolving. They also discuss the challenges CFINTCOM is confronting, including the environment and climate change, the war in Ukraine (including disinformation and “debunking”), and AUKUS.  NB: This was our first “in-person” recording since the start of the pandemic – so you will hear a few bumps as we get re-acquainted with our microphone discipl

In this episode Craig and Stephanie sit down with Intrepid Podcast contributor, Thomas Juneau, and Dominic Rochon, senior assistant deputy minister for the national and cyber security branch of Public Safety Canada. Thomas and Dominic are co-chairs of the National Security Transparency Advisory Group. Together, the four look at their latest report “How National Security and Intelligence Institutions Engage with Racialized Communities”. They discuss ongoing challenges in building trust, and how to balance engagement in organizations that are also seen as engaged in active community surveillance.  You can access the report here: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2022-nstag-nsiirc-isnrccr/index-en.aspx  Thomas and Dominic have also written a piece about Policy Options, summarizing some of the key findings in the report: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2022/bridging-the-national-security-trust-gap-with-racialized-people/

Stephanie sits down with her former NPSIA colleague Jez Littlewood, a specialist in weapons of mass destruction, and Craig Forcese to discuss the rules governing nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and their use. They then address questions arising from the conflict in Ukraine, including recent concerns that Russia may use such weapons.

In Ep 174, Stephanie and Craig discussed many of the international issues raised by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They did not, however, address the “laws of armed conflict” (LOAC) (also called “international humanitarian law”) governing how armed conflicts are supposed to be fought, and creating the concept of “war crimes”. In this episode, Stephanie and Craig are joined by MGen (ret) Blaise Cathcart, Canada’s former Judge Advocate Lawyer (JAG). The JAG is the Canadian Armed Forces’ top military lawyer. They discuss the scope and application of LOAC, and drill down on a number of specific issues: can Canada be considered a “belligerent” because of the nature of its support for Ukraine; how are combatants and civilians distinguished; what are the rules on targeting of combatants as opposed to civilians; what happens to prisoners and detainees; what the implications of civilian infrastructure being bombed; and how might enforcement of these rules work. This is a deep dive on many of the matters filling the front pages of newspapers over the last two weeks.

The honking may have stopped in Ottawa, but the debate over the Emergencies Act is far from over. Following the invocation of the Act, there is a requirement for two reviews to take place – one by Parliamentarians, and the other a broader look at government actions.  Hopefully, this will contribute to a better understanding of what happened, why, and whether the Trudeau governments actions were appropriate.  To discuss these reviews, and the need for transparency, Stephanie sits down with Leah West and Thomas Juneau. They also discuss the implications of the Convoy for the national security community going forward – an issue that Intrepid will certainly be returning to over the next few months.  Leah West’s guide to the legal thresholds of the Emergencies Act (mentioned in the podcast) can be found on the Intrepid Podcast blog here: https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/blog/2022/2/17/public-order-emergency-a-guide-to-thinking-through-the-legal-thresholds-and-its-justification*Programming note: we will be returning soon with more content regarding events in Ukraine. 2022 shows no signs of slowing down.

Intrepid podcast continues to grapple with too much history in too short a time. Today, Craig Forcese joins Stephanie to discuss Russia’s illegal and tragic invasion of Ukraine. They walk through the international law issues raised by this act of aggression (a war crime), as of the morning of 24 February. They focus especially on Russia’s “lawfare” and legal trolling — its (unpersuasive) use of pretextual legal justifications to mask aggression since 2014. A earlier blog version of the some the issues they discuss is on the Intrepid website here.

In this brief episode, Jessica Davis, President of Insight Threat Intelligence, provides us with an overview of everything that has happened with finances around the Convoy since the GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign was closed. From the collapse of other crowdfunding campaigns, to Emergencies Act legislation that targets the personal and corporate accounts of Convoy supporters, to the inevitable cryptocurrency discussion, there is a lot to consider. Will this crisis lead Canada to better resource its anti-money laundering resources? See Jessica’s latest for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), “Crowdfunding and Protest Financing: Emergency Law in Canada”:  https://gnet-research.org/2022/02/18/crowdfunding-and-protest-financing-emergency-law-in-canada/  While you are waiting for more Emergencies Act content, please check out Leah West’s guide on the Intrepid Podcast website: https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/blog/2022/2/17/public-order-emergency-a-guide-to-thinking-through-the-legal-thresholds-and-its-justification  This episode was recorded on Friday 18 February at 12:30pm.

This episode was recorded at 2pm on Friday February 11, 2022. As the Convoy currently occupying Ottawa continues into third week, and its supporters attempt to spread the movement across major Canadian cities and ports of entry, is solving this crisis a problem of law or enforcement? Mike Nesbitt joins Stephanie through some of the proposed legal options. Is this terrorism? Sedition? Treason? Or is it … surprisingly… a lot of mischief? Do we actually need emergency powers to fix this?  Note: the podcast has already covered the use of emergency powers in prior episodes. See Ep 121 https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/podcast/2020/3/19/ep-120-an-emergency-podcast-on-emergency-law  You can also check out emergency law through this online chapter by Craig Forcese and Leah West: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3554318 There is also a short video available through Intrepid University: https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/university

**Note: This podcast was recorded before the news that GoFundMe shut downpayments to the Convoy organizers. As noted in the podcast, organizers have other options to raise funds. We'll look to update listeners on these developments sometimes next week.**As we recorded this episode, the streets of Ottawa were occupied with trucks from a so-called “Freedom Convoy” that claims to be about mandates, but in reality has extremist origins. With non-stop honking, intimidation of those who seek to follow public health guidance and signs invoking conspiracy theories and hate groups, the residents of Ottawa overwhelmingly would like the this “Convoy” to leave. While the police do not seem to be able to do much, the “Truckers” are, at least in part, relying on a $10 million dollar war chest of money raised through GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing platform. This raises all kinds of questions about how these activities are being financed. Is it okay for political movements, with ties to extremists, to raise funds in this way? Who is responsible for investigating the money raised? Will the funds even be dispersed? Is there a threat of clandestine foreign interference? To discuss these issues and more, Stephanie sits down with Intrepid Podcast member Jessica Davis, President of Insight Threat Intelligence, and author of Illicit Money: Financing Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (2021). This podcast was recorded on February 4, 2022. 

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Fatima Syed, journalist with The Narwal and host of The Backbench at Canadaland. They discuss covering ongoing violence against the Muslim community and the challenges in covering national security issues in Canada. Importantly, throughout the interview, Fatima discusses her approach to her work, and emphasizes the importance of having conversations across communities to better understand experiences of hate, but also build bridges with those who hold radically different views but are willing to engage. Please note this episode was recorded on December 15 2021

In this mini-episode, Stephanie hosts a quick chat with Phil Lagassé about Canada’s new governor general. They also reflect on the impact of having the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the role for so long (circling back to their discussion in Ep 152). Please note, this episode was recorded on 13 July 2021.  You can read some of Phil’s commentary on the new Governor General with these links:https://policymagazine.ca/heavy-burdens-of-office-for-the-new-gg/https://lagassep.com/2021/07/20/the-commissioner-vs-the-constitution/  Episode 152 can be listened to here: https://www.intrepidpodcast.com/podcast/2021/3/29/ep-152-her-majesty-in-right-of-pod-evaluating-the-pandemic-parliament

What was supposed to be a committee examining the relationship between Canada and China has turned into something of a constitutional crisis. Opposition MPs on the ad-hoc Canada-China Committee are demanding access to classified documents to find out the reasons two scientists were fired from the National Microbiology Lab. The entire affair has led to the trashing of one of Canada’s few national security transparency and oversight institutions, the shutting down of committees, government officials being publicly scolded and a cameo no one expected – Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act. There is a lot to unpack here. So Stephanie sits down with Leah West and Philippe Lagassé to discuss the matter, what went wrong, why everyone is to blame – and whether it’s all academic because and election is coming our way. Please note, this podcast was recorded on July 13, 2021. We did experience a few technical difficulties, so please excuse the recording!

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Jessica Davis and Michael Nesbitt to discuss recent developments in terrorism cases in Canada. First, in the wake of the tragic attack in London, Ontario, Crown Prosecutors have brought terrorism charges, possibly the first ever against an individual motivated by far-right extremism. What are the challenges in prosecuting this as a terrorism case? Next, they discuss an extremist travel case where one individual has pleaded guilty, but charges have been stayed against another. This leads the group to ask some hard questions about terrorism charges generally. Why are so few women charged with terrorism? Why are there so few terrorism financing and facilitation charges? And why don’t we know more about why charges are laid, dropped or stayed in these cases, leaving us with seemingly arbitrary decisions by the Crown? As with other areas of national security, more transparency is needed.Check out Michael Nesbitt’s posts on terrorism charges in Canada on Intrepidpodcast.comhttps://www.intrepidpodcast.com/blog/2021/6/15/counting-terrorism-charges-amp-prosecutions-in-canada-part-1-what-does-the-data-sayhttps://www.intrepidpodcast.com/blog/2021/6/24/counting-terrorism-charges-and-prosecutions-in-canada-part-2Jessica Davis’ new substack on national security and illicit finance: https://insightintel.substack.com/subscribe

In the late spring of 2021, University of Toronto Press released Stand on Guard: Reassessing Threats to Canada’s National Security, by Stephanie Carvin. This episode features the introduction to the book which presents the evolving context in which threats to the security of Canada are manifesting and evolving. Carvin argues that rather than responding to national security threats with fear, Canadians need to responsibly widen their understanding and respond with empathy to best meet the challenges of the 21st Century. You can read the Open Canada review of the book here: https://opencanada.org/book-review-stand-on-guard/

In this episode, Leah talks with Chris Parsons and Bill Robinson of Citizen Lab to discuss NSIRA’s latest review of CSE’s practice of sharing incidentally collected Canadian information with government agencies and the Review Body’s suggestion that CSIS hasn’t been frank with the Federal Court about what happens with the foreign intelligence CSE helps them collect.

When news of the Toronto-18 Case broke in 2006, Canadians were stunned. It seemed as though the “War on Terror” had been brought to Canadian soil as a group of young men, allegedly inspired by Al Qaida, were accused of a serious bomb plot in downtown Toronto. After a high-profile news conference, however, a series of publication bans descended on the Toronto-18 cases, leaving the more complex issues and nuances of the case out of the public eye. What is the significance of the Toronto-18 attack 15 years later? What lessons should be learned from it? Jessica Davis sits down with Michael Nesbitt, Kent Roach and Amarnath Amarasingam to discuss these issues, and a new (free!) open access book: Canadian Terror: Multidisciplinary Perspectives and the Toronto 18 Terrorism Trials. Available from Manitoba Law Journal Robson Criminal Edition Collection.

Please note, this podcast contains references to sexual assault.In this episode, Stephanie and Amar sit down with Leah and guest LGen (retd) Mike Day who served with Joint Task Force Two (JTF2) and Canada’s Special Operations Forces Command. The four discuss the issues surrounding the long-standing issue of sexual assault in the military. How did we get to this point? Why has this issue never been fully addressed? What, if anything can be done about it? Are there reasons to have hope? This podcast was recorded on 5 May 2021 but was delayed due to technical issues. You can watch Leah West’s testimony on these issues to the House of Commons Status of Women Committee hearing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts4d2XG3cZI