Well, is there a NSIA?
Or, Monkey Business in Ottawa?
What, on earth, is going on with the role of the National Security and Intelligence Adviser (NSIA) to the Prime Minister?
Prologue:
This question may sound like inside Ottawa baseball to many of you (though some of you may be players). But the question of whether there is an actual National Security and Intelligence Adviser to the Prime Minister, with duties to match, is much bigger than inside baseball. It goes to the heart of the functioning of the national security and intelligence community as a key safeguard for Canada in a dangerous world.
The story-line:
The question of what was happening to the NSIA function originally arose with the major Deputy Minister shuffle announced in early March. [1] In that shuffle, there was no mention whatsoever of a NSIA, following the departure of the current office-holder, Nathalie Drouin, to take up an appointment as Canada’s ambassador in Paris. The absence of any mention of a NSIA was supported by the fact that no replacement was announced for the Deputy NSIA, Ted Gallivan, who was moved to the DM slot at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Tough job, that.
I wrote about this erasure on March 4 in a substack, “Goodbye NSIA.” [2] I commented that the absence of a NSIA “makes no sense at this point in time.” I also quoted from a note that Vincent Rigby, a former NSIA himself, had kindly sent me, in which he wrote “at first blush, the decision looks dangerous.” [3]
Then, I returned to the story on March 7, in a substack entitled, “POOF! The NSIA is back.” [4] The March 7 column followed a note from the PCO released to the Ottawa Citizen reporter, Ben Andrews, on March 6, that stated that “As the Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the Prime Minister, David Morrison will also be the National Security and Intelligence Adviser.”
That would mean that Morrison, whatever his talents, would be wearing three hats—Senior Diplomatic Adviser, NSIA and Sherpa for the G7 and G20. Unless cloning techniques have made rapid and secret advances, that’s an impossible job description. It suggests, at the very least, a downgrading of the NSIA function, as well as raising important questions around the division of responsibilities between Morrison and a newly created “Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet” function at the Privy Council Office for Security and Intelligence, to be held by Dominic Rochon. [5]
The PCO note of March 6 also elaborated on Mr. Rochon’s role, stating that he:
“will be responsible for ensuring that Canada’s security and intelligence strategies and processes are resilient and capable of meeting our security requirements in a changing world.”
While Morrison as NSIA will “ensure close collaboration with international partners,” Rochon will “also be responsible for domestic security issues.”
That’s clear as mud, but at least PCO added this sugar (sorry for the mixed metaphor):
“These appointments reflect the increased focus by the Government of Canada on issues of national and international security.”
So we have what? One sort-of NSIA and maybe a second, sort-of NSIA?
I asked PCO some follow-up questions, sent the evening of March 6. For the record, here they are:
If the intention was for Mr. Morrison to serve as both a senior international advisor and the NSIA why was that not indicated in the announcement?
If the appointment as NSIA post-dated the DM shuffle when was the decision taken to identify Mr. Morrison as NSIA?
There was no announcement about a deputy NSIA. Will there be a deputy NSIA?
Will there be PM mandate letters for both Mr. Morrison and Mr. Rochon?
If so, can you let me know when these might appear?
With the comms folk you never know. They are hard-working, but timelines can be unpredictable. I waited, and on March 11 was sent a copy of the original PCO response which I had cited to them. I pressed on, and was told on March 13 that they were “actively working” on a response. The response eventually came in on March 23, 17 days after my original request. The actively working amounted to an active no comment. Literally “we have no additional comment.”
OK. Where does that leave us?
Here’s the thing. The Order in Council announcement for Mr. Morrison, dated March 3, 2026, made no mention whatsoever of him serving as the National Security and Intelligence Adviser. [6] Without an Order in Council there is no NSIA. That’s the way these appointments work. Without a new and revised Order in Council, Mr. Morrison cannot assume the role, even though his appointment as Senior Diplomatic Adviser commenced March 23.
OK, that’s fixable, I guess, with a revised Order in Council, though it’s a peculiar business to be sure. Question--is there one forthcoming?
Even if there is, we won’t know what the duties of a possible NSIA, with a new structure and seemingly divided responsibilities, under a new government, might be. This is where a Prime Minister’s mandate letter becomes so crucial.
PM Trudeau issued a mandate letter to his NSIA (Mme. Drouin) on November 25, 2024.[7] It was the first-ever mandate letter to an NSIA and set an important precedent for transparency and accountability. It set out the NSIA’s long-standing functions as a principal adviser on national security and intelligence, as a manager of intelligence flows to the PM, as a coordinator of the security and intelligence community, as a lead official in responding to national security emergencies, and as a key interlocutor with allied counterparts. In addition to these overarching tasks, the mandate letter also charged the NSIA with performing as the Secretary to the National Security Council (a Cabinet committee chaired by the PM), delivering a new National Security Strategy, refreshing the government’s intelligence priorities and making them public, dealing with recommendations emerging from the studies on foreign interference, and “improving transparency and stakeholder engagement on national security issues.” Many of these tasks remain unfinished.
Will they be taken up by the new NSIA, if we even have one? Will there be a new mandate letter for a putative NSIA and for the new Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet?
These are important questions for the Government to answer. It’s easy to say:
“These appointments reflect the increased focus by the Government of Canada on issues of national and international security.”
Now prove it. Find your tongue.
[1] Prime Minister’s Office, “Prime Minister Carney announces changes in the senior ranks of the public service,” March 4, 2026, https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/03/04/prime-minister-carney-announces-changes-senior-ranks-public-service
[2] Wesley Wark, “Goodbye NSIA,” March 4, 2026, https://wesleywark.substack.com/p/goodbye-nsia
[3] Ibid
[4] Wesley Watk, “POOF! The NSIA is back,” March 7, 2026, https://wesleywark.substack.com/p/poof-the-nsia-is-back
[5] Prime Minister’s Office, “Prime Minister Carney announces changes in the senior ranks of the public service,” March 4, 2026, https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/03/04/prime-minister-carney-announces-changes-senior-ranks-public-service
[6] Privy Council Office, https://orders-in-council.canada.ca/attachment.php?attach=48253&lang=en
[7] Privy Council Office, “Mandate Letter of the National Security and Intelligence Adviser,” August 6, 2025, https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/services/security/mandate-letter-national-security-intelligence-advisor.html
In an era where there are multiple major wars underway involving Canada’s friends and allies (and foes) and a dramatic shift towards states like India and China that have historically been very interested in Canadian intelligence and security - this is a rather odd time to reduce our senior level of responsible bureaucracy. Odd indeed.
Thank you, Wesley Wark, for following up with the PMO.
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I will elaborate on what I wrote here back in early March: David Morrison's early career was spent, for the most part, at CIDA. He was subsequently a diplomat (when CIDA was merged with the trade and diplomatic services of what is now Global Affairs).
Yes, Morrison did serve as the Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to PM Trudeau from 2019 to 2021. However, I am given to understand that his engagement with Canadian intelligence assessors and collectors of covert intelligence was "skeptical". In fact, he reportedly [Edited] maintained a somewhat antagonistic relationship with [End Edited Portion] analysts at PCO whose job it was to provide senior executives and elected officials with policy neutral advice about developments outside Canada (and, more recently, on domestic security threats).
I'll go out on a limb and say that he [Edited] may have been one of those [End Edited Portion] who shaped the job he now occupies and, what's more, he [Edited] may have [End Edited Portion] played a role in the discussion that led to the NSIA job falling off the table, [Edited] which you highlighted by drawing our attention to {End Edited Portion] the lack of any mention of the NSIA on the order in council).
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The dynamic you've described may or may not reflect a deep-seated hostility to those who offer assessments based on subject-matter expertise.
Whatever the case may be, it would seem uncontroversial to say that the Prime Minister is not being well-served by his advisors.
If this should prove to be the case, it would arguably be a HUGE mistake, one that will hamper the PM's government in the context of a very challenging international dynamic, particularly as the United States makes radical changes to its foreign policy and its approach to international trade.
And of course, engagement with Canada (*and Mexico, which should be seen as our natural partner as we push back against US pressure).