OTTAWA — The NDP says revelations that Canada's lead spy agency illegally kept sensitive data for years underscores the need for stronger parliamentary oversight.
The New Democrats are pushing for changes to a bill that would create a committee of parliamentarians to keep an eye on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and other spy services.
NDP MP Murray Rankin says the proposed model would allow the government to arbitrarily deny crucial information to the committee.
A Federal Court judge says CSIS violated the law by keeping potentially revealing electronic data about people who posed no security threat over a 10-year period.
In a hard-hitting ruling made public Thursday, Justice Simon Noel said CSIS breached its duty to inform the court of its data-collection program, since the information was gathered using judicial warrants.
The ruling said CSIS should not have held on to the information since it was not directly related to threats to the security of Canada.
