On January 9^th 1974, as the Canadian public gathered around their bulky TV sets and turned on an hour-long, primetime television broadcast by the CBC revealing a secret communications branch of the National Research Council (CBNRC).

They reported that the average man dressed in a plaid shirt with overgrown mutton chops could be spy agents engaging in public espionage.  They were working closely with the CIA to spy on foreign enemies by monitoring radio, telephone, and satellite transmissions.

Today that branch is known as the Communications Security Establishment (CSE). Its mandate is being revised and debated in Parliament through Bill C-59. The CSE faces more scrutiny than its predecessor, but still it remains an obscure part of Canadian security culture for both the public and politicians.

In their documentary, the CBC referred to a treaty called UKUSA, a superpower alliance between Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to divide the world up in four parts to share aggregated information. The United States allegedly did not reciprocate in passing along their intelligence.

Winslow Peck, a former intelligence officer of the National Security Agency, told their reporters that Canada was “merely an extension of the United States in a northward direction.”

The claims regarding the program sparked a heated debate in the House of Commons during the following two sessions.

David Lewis, the leader of the New Democratic Party, suggested that the Liberals in power should rethink the proprietary of Canadian scientists decoding and intercepting information for their southern neighbours.

Mitchell Sharp, Liberal External Affairs Minister, denied the existence of both the branch and the treaty calling the documentary “mischievous and misleading.”

Lewis persisted and pushed to sever the ties between the CIA and Canada. During this period of time they had a bad reputation for committing discreditable acts like murdering suspected Viet Cong leaders operating in South Vietnamese villages.

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau casually responded that the United States was a friendly government and the RCMP would not judge the activities of their neighbour’s spy agency.

Lewis then suggested that research council’s communication branch be moved to a more appropriate department to which the prime minister responded that he was happy that the MP had acknowledge spying was justified.

One year later Lewis’ suggestion was put into effect. The communications spy agency became housed under the Department of National Defence and changed its name to the Communications Security Establishment of Canada.

“There was no more need to hide it in the NRC,” explained Alan Barnes, a CSE information analyst  and historian on Canadian security culture. “Plus administratively it got awkward for the NRC because it never really had authority over the communications branch.”

In late March, at a routine committee meeting MP Perrin Beatty of the Progressive Conservative party asked the Minister of State for Science and Technology whether the secret UKUSA  pact existed. The minister, Charles Dury, confirmed that there was an agreement referred to as such that would affect the activities of the signals intelligence agency.

Two months later Beatty revealed these findings to parliament, with no consequences for the ministers who had mislead them a year and a half earlier.

According to historical literature on the subject, the CSE’s mandate was never revised after the shocking revelations of its existence. No statutory framework was ever put in place and its capabilities still remained an official secret.

The public held the CSE to even less accountability than the politicians because there was less understanding about the impact of its role than there is today. More recently, there has been a lot written about the government’s ability to monitor that kind of information, explained Barnes.

He enjoys the increased attention the foreign signals intelligence agency is now receiving. With that attention comes more resources like the $500 million Canada’s national security sector will be allocated over the next five years, a good chunk of which is going to the CSE.

“Intelligence culture has always been extremely secretive. I think more secretive than necessary which does it a disservice,” he concluded.

Documentation

Low-income families will no longer be weighed down by waitlists that determine their ability to access affordable childcare.

According to an analysis of the 2018 city budget, an additional 1,500 families in Ottawa are estimated have access to subsidized daycare after the city made efforts to reduce the wait times for financial supports.

“We’re confident that with the changes there won’t be any waiting lists in Ottawa to access subsidies,” said Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who sits on the committee responsible for all community and social services budgeting.

City council approved an additional $17.9 million for the fee subsidy budget this year, a 28% increase from 2017.

Licensed childcare centres had to raise their daycare fees to offset the extra costs from Ontario’s rising minimum wage. Jason Sabourin, Ottawa’s children’s services manager, said the fee subsidies were needed to help families cope with these additional costs.

Families are expected to receive subsidies as high as $12 thousand.

A better educational experience for low-income children

The way subsidies are allocated have also changed, said Fleury. Previously funding was allocated through a specific daycare, meaning a parent did not have the liberty of switching childcare centres because they would lose their financial aid.

Funding is now assigned to the family directly and follows them between neighbourhoods.

Early childcare educator Helene Legault  said this change gives families the option of removing their children from poor-quality daycares. They are no longer dependent on locations with short subsidy waiting lists because the financial support sticks to their record.

According to Legault, children in the high-income neighbourhoods have greater learning opportunities because their daycares can  afford more field trips and creative activities.

“I’m hoping that all children will have better experiences across the board,” she said.

More money more problems

The rise in fee subsidies belong to a series of financial increases for the early childcare sector that the provincial government announced in 2017.

In an Ottawa town hall held earlier this month, Premier Kathleen Wynne said that the Ontario government is working with cities across the province to create 100,000 new childcare spaces.

After parents receive their subsidy they are put on a second waiting list until a spot in one of the institutions opens up. The additional spaces will help reduce that second waiting list.

An additional $2.9 million was allocated to Ottawa for the project, reducing the waitlist by an estimated 170 families.

 Early childcare educators are skeptical about the increases, saying they will lack the resources to accommodate growing classrooms.

“Usually our classes get bigger but we see no pay hike for the extra workload,” said Legault.

Legault noted that more children with special needs will given placements but there are no extra funds to help support them. More resources are needed for trained experts like psychologists, she said.

Pat Dickson, an early childhood educator, said that on some days a kid with special needs will have a meltdown so intense that the rest of the class needs to be evacuated until the child calms down.

“The violence in our school is beyond our control and there is very little learning going on in that classroom,” she said. “We are making sure that that little child who needs assistance is getting it at the expense of every other child in that classroom. They dumped them in but with no support.”

The provincial government transferred $6.7 million dollars worth of its early childcare budget and decision making powers to Ottawa, said Saboruin.

The municipal government is now in charge of services like playgroups, workshops, and referral services that benefit children from infancy to age six, meaning parents and daycare workers like Legault could get a greater say into the early care of their children.