The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP; French: Comité des parlementaires sur la sécurité nationale et le renseignement; CPSNR) is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agencies.
The committee also performs strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which national security activities are conducted.
In practice, the two review bodies complement each other and provide Canadians with comprehensive and multi-faceted scrutiny of the government's secret activities.
[7] NSIRA and the NSICOP may exchange classified information, and are required by statute to cooperate in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.
The act purports to limit parliamentary privilege,[5] however section 12 of the statute, which imposed this restriction, was struck down by the Ontario Superior Court for being unconstitutional in 2022.
The committee found that "closer parliamentary scrutiny will better assure Canadians that a proper balance is being maintained between respect for their rights and freedoms, and the protection of national security.
"[11] The committee recommended that "to allow more effective parliamentary scrutiny of t intelligence community, Parliament will require that some of its number have complete access to such classified information as they consider appropriate.
"[11] In 2013, after public criticism, the British government significantly overhauled UK's Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, strengthening its powers and its independence.
[3] Opposition parties have argued that this undefined clause is "disturbingly wide"[24] and allows the government abuse to cover up sloppy management, or a scandal within a department.