CSIS, Canada's spy agency, has been making headlines recently. Unfortunately, the headlines have not been very flattering. The latest revelation came in the case of Hassan Almrei, the Syrian man accused of connections to the "Bin Laden network." His case is proceeding under the notorious security certificates, a process that allows for evidence to be given in secret. Justice Richard Mosley of the Federal Court disclosed last month that during the course of the secret hearings in the case, CSIS had provided inaccurate information to the court about the reliability of two informants. This came on the heels of an earlier ruling in the case of Mohamed Harkat by Justice Simon Noel, who came to a similar conclusion about the lack of candour of CSIS in that case. Almrei and Harkat are two of five men who have been accused under the security certificate regime of being connected to Al Qaeda. The possible consequences for all of the men are extremely serious. Almrei was held in detention for more than seven years while his case made its way through the courts. He was released earlier this year but is still under virtual house arrest. If he loses his case he faces deportation to Syria, where he fears he may be tortured. Each of the other men is in a similar situation. Harkat faces deportation to Algeria and he, too, is convinced he will be tortured there.In all of the cases, the government has relied on secret evidence provided by CSIS that is not disclosed to the men. That extraordinary power requires that the agency be vigilant in ensuring that all of the information it provides in secret is absolutely beyond reproach. The finding that CSIS failed to provide accurate information to the court in secret proceedings is a serious blow to the agency's credibility. While providing inaccurate information to a court of law is always an extremely serious matter, it is especially so in the case of secret hearings where the accused cannot answer to the allegations. Because CSIS has the power to intrude so much into the privacy of Canadians and operates outside the usual scrutiny of the media and the public, it has an even greater obligation to the court. This concern was reflected in the Harkat case by Justice Noel, who stated in his decision dealing with CSIS's conduct that "persons in positions of authority within government whose actions impact on the rights and liberties of Canadians must be held to account for even the slightest disregard for the rule of law." But the problems of CSIS do not end with the findings in these two cases. Last month it was taken to task in the notorious Abousfian Abdelrazik matter. Abdelrazik, a Canadian who was trapped in Sudan for more than six years, alleged that he had been detained and tortured while in Sudan and that his detention was as a result of a request by CSIS. In a scathing judgment, Justice Russell Zinn ordered the Canadian government to bring Abdelrazik back to Canada and found that CSIS was complicit in the initial detention of Abdelrazik by the Sudanese. Some weeks before that decision, CSIS was again at the centre of controversy when a senior CSIS official testifying before the House of Commons public safety committee stated that in some circumstances CSIS would be prepared to use information obtained under torture. Although he was later contradicted by the head of CSIS, the statement created doubts about CSIS's policy on this issue. Given all of these incidents, one has to ask: What is wrong with CSIS? The answer is complex. A spy agency operating in the shadows is given a difficult task – to protect Canadians against terrorists intent on disrupting our way of life. It is given extraordinary powers. And it needs them to protect us. But it also needs strong oversight and direction. Justice Dennis O'Connor, who presided over the Arar Commission, found oversight of the national security apparatus to be lacking and made recommendations for change. Several years have passed without any action on his recommendations. Oversight without political direction is not enough. Clearly, it's serious when any government agency breaks the rules. But what is of even greater concern here is the absolute silence of the political overseers. Public Security Minister Peter Van Loan has been invisible and mute. So has the minister of justice. Their silence sends CSIS and Canadians an ominous message. It is that the problem isn't that CSIS misled the court or was complicit in detaining a Canadian: the problem is only that it got caught – and the problem will go away if it is ignored. That's the wrong message: It leaves us with serious doubts about the integrity and competence of federal security agencies. And it leaves us with equally serious doubts about the position of our government on these serious matters. Canadians need to know where the government stands. The government needs to send a strong message to CSIS. The terrorists need to fear CSIS. Canadians should not. Lorne Waldman is an immigration lawyer in Toronto. He represented Maher Arar at the public inquiry and is currently counsel for Hassan Almrei.

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