A little learning?

Courses for government officials without secrets

One of the fun things in my life, other than writing this substack, is the chance to teach courses on intelligence and national security issues to government officials. Truly, it’s a real pleasure, not least because I think government officials can be starved of the chance to learn in a critical environment, outside the walls of the Canada School of Public Service. It’s terrific to engage with people whose daily work involves national security and intelligence issues and who come to its study with a degree of experience. We also put aside the strictures of secrecy, and hold discussions at the non-classified level and analyse publicly available documents and reports. Its liberating! (But sometimes takes a bit of getting used to for those deep in the secret world)

Training opportunities for federal civil servants are not fulsome, and I fear the current round of internal budget cuts are likely to impact on already meagre training budgets. But I shall carry on.

I typically offer two different courses. One is a general examination of contemporary intelligence and national security issues, which I teach in the summer. The other is a more specialized course on national security and intelligence review and accountability, which I offer in the Fall and Winter months.

For any readers of this substack who might be interested in learning more about the next session of the course on “The Brave New World of National Security and Intelligence Review,” which will be offered online in November, please visit the Balsillie Executive Institute home page:

https://balsillieinstitute.ca/courses/new-world-of-national-security/

Or drop me a note.

I launched this course in 2019. The November session will be its tenth offering. I am very pleased that it continues to draw students.

At some point I am going to have to change the title from “Brave New World,” but not yet. The Canadian review system for national security and intelligence was fundamentally transformed between 2017 and 2019 and in some ways is still in its infancy and still facing big challenges. The legislation that created the new review bodies (National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians) is meant to be subject to Parliamentary review in the Fall session. On that one we shall see. Meanwhile, of course, both review bodies are undertaking what might the their most consequential work to date—independent reviews of foreign interference.

And, icing to me, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians will soon release their groundbreaking study of the RCMP, its federal policing mandate and national security law enforcement this month. As soon as it drops. I will write about it.