Tag Archive for Canada

Defence Research and Development Canada Report: Potential Applications of Blockchain Technology in Tactical Networks

Awareness of blockchain has soared in recent years with the emergence of cryptocurrencies, but the technology has existed for much longer. The linking of blocks, containing cryptographic functions of transactions and data, means that tampering with their contents becomes increasingly difficult as the chain grows – this concept was exploited for document timestamping applications more than a decade before cryptocurrencies became reality. In many implementations, blocks are confirmed by, and stored at, many nodes in different locations, providing a high degree of data integrity. There are, however, many challenges for applying blockchain technologies in tactical networks, particularly due to the constraints of the platforms, the limited bandwidth available among them, and the impact of network partitioning. In this report, the development and principles of blockchains are presented, along with an overview of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

U.S. National Electric Grid Security and Resilience Action Plan

The Joint United States-Canada Electric Grid Security and Resilience Strategy (Strategy) is a collaborative effort between the Federal Governments of the United States and Canada and is intended to strengthen the security and resilience of the U.S. and Canadian electric grid from all adversarial, technological, and natural hazards and threats. The Strategy, released concurrently with this National Electric Grid Security and Resilience Action Plan (Action Plan), details bilateral goals to address the vulnerabilities of the respective and shared electric grid infrastructure of the United States and Canada, not only as an energy security concern, but for reasons of national security. The implementation of the Strategy requires continued action of a nationwide network of governments, departments and agencies (agencies), and private sector partners. This Action Plan details the activities, deliverables, and timelines that will be undertaken primarily by U.S. Federal agencies for the United States to make progress toward the Strategy’s goals.

Joint United States-Canada Electric Grid Security and Resilience Strategy

This Joint United States-Canada Electric Grid Security and Resilience Strategy (Strategy) is a collaborative effort between the Federal Governments of the United States and Canada and is intended to strengthen the security and resilience of the U.S. and Canadian electric grid from all adversarial, technological, and natural hazards and threats. The Strategy addresses the vulnerabilities of the two countries’ respective and shared electric grid infrastructure, not only as an energy security concern, but for reasons of national security. This joint Strategy relies on the existing strong bilateral collaboration between the United States and Canada, and reflects a joint commitment to enhance a shared approach to risk management for the electric grid. It also articulates a common vision of the future electric grid that depends on effective and expanded collaboration among those who own, operate, protect, and rely on the electric grid. Because the electric grid is complex, vital to the functioning of modern society, and dependent on other infrastructure for its function, the United States and Canada developed the Strategy under the shared principle that security and resilience require increasingly collaborative efforts and shared approaches to risk management.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Guide on Radicalization

Radicalization is a critical subset of the terrorist threat. The RCMP defines radicalization as the process by which individuals — usually young people — are introduced to an overtly ideological message and belief system that encourages movement from moderate, mainstream beliefs towards extreme views. While radical thinking is by no means problematic in itself, it becomes a threat to national security when Canadian citizens or residents espouse or engage in violence or direct action as a means of promoting political, ideological or religious extremism.

Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Consolidated Text

The text of the CETA agreement is made public here exclusively for information purposes. The text presented in this document is the text at the end of the negotiations conducted by the European Commission. It will be subject to legal revision in order to verify the internal consistency and to ensure that the formulations of the negotiating results are legally sound. It will thereafter be transmitted to the Council of the European Union and to the European Parliament for ratification. The text presented in this document is not binding under international law and will only become so after the completion of the ratification process.

Canadian Forces Guidance for the Conduct of Domestic Operations

The Canadian Forces (CF) is organized, equipped and trained to defend Canada and, in cooperation with Canada’s allies, protect and advance Canada’s interests in the world community. While the CF focuses on its purely military tasks, the inherent flexibility of military units, many with unique capabilities, makes the CF a potential source of assistance which may be called upon to support Canadian civil authorities and the Canadian public in Canada. CF domestic operations are any CF activities which provide assistance in response to requests for support from Canadian civil authorities, or from the Canadian public.

(U//FOUO) U.S.-Canada Civil Assistance Plan 2012

This bilateral plan provides a framework for military forces of one nation to support military forces of the other nation that are providing military support of civil authorities. The focus of this document is the unique, bilateral military planning considerations required to align our respective national military plans to respond quickly to national requests for military support of civil authorities. Nothing in this plan prevents either nation from responding unilaterally; rather, this plan will facilitate unity of effort, if and when requests for bilateral support are received.

CSIS Canadian National Counterterrorism Intelligence Requirements (NCTIR)

In 2004, the Government of Canada issued its first National Security Policy (NSP), Securing an Open Society, to ensure that Canada would be prepared for and could respond to future threats. Recognizing that threats to national security are beyond the capacity of individuals, communities or provinces to address alone, the NSP envisaged greater integration and more strategic co-ordination of key security functions, particularly those related to intelligence collection, threat assessments and emergency preparedness through the implementation of a strategic framework and an action plan. To make substantive improvements in integration and co-ordination with regard to terrorist threats, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), in co-operation with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), are developing National Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Requirements (NCTIR). The NCTIR is envisaged as an integral component of a broader national strategy involving training, information-sharing and a co-ordinated response to terrorist threats involving the whole of government.

Canadian Military Demands Removal of Counterinsurgency Manual From Public Intelligence

A representative of the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) has demanded the removal of a document on Canadian Land Force Counterinsurgency Operations that was first released by WikiLeaks in August 2009. The document was published on this website in April 2010 after a copy of the report that was clearer and easier to read was found to be available online. In May 2010, the manual was written about by Doug Saunders, a journalist working for the Globe and Mail who also reproduced the document in full.

Canada Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC) Occupy Wall Street Bulletins

Several Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC) bulletins were obtained via an information request from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) by Paroxysms. Most of the documents were also simultaneously released to the Globe and Mail, though the collection released to Paroxysms is more complete and contains several additional bulletins that are not included in the other collection.

Restricted Canada Border Services Agency Tattoo Handbook

Tattoos are useful indicators to identify individuals who are members of a gang or a criminal organization. It is important to note that an image may have several different, occasionally innocuous, meanings, depending on the interpretation of the individual or gangs using it. The Organized Crime Section (OCS) is providing the following tattoos and their definitions as a tool to assist officers in detecting gang members or members of a criminal organization. It is important that Border Services Officers contact their Regional Intelligence Officers to assist in determining a subject’s admissibility to Canada.

Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Child Pornographer

The government says anyone who opposes federal plans to make electronic surveillance easier for police and spies is siding with child pornographers. It’s the first salvo in a battle that will resume Tuesday when the government reintroduces legislation that would expand online monitoring powers. The issue pits the desire of intelligence and law-enforcement officials to have easier access to information about Internet users against the individual’s right to privacy.

American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand (ABCA) Armies Coalition Operations Handbook

Coalitions, which are created for limited purposes and for a set time, do not afford military planners the same political resolve and commonality of aim as alliances. Thus, planners must closely study the political goals of each participant as a precursor to detailed planning. Political considerations weigh more heavily with coalitions than with alliance operations. Coalition military operations are not new. The American, British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand (ABCA) nations have participated together in several coalition operations during the twentieth century. Since human nature has not changed, conflicts over territory, religion, politics, and economics, such as those that prompted previous military operations, will continue to be widespread. The precise role of armies in these operations will vary according to each political and military situation.

American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand (ABCA) Armies Security Force Capacity Building Handbook

SFCB has come to play an increasingly important role in each of our armies over the last decade and will undoubtedly feature in operations spanning the spectrum of conflict in the future. Its affect on organization, training, equipping and doctrine has been felt to a greater or lesser extent by each of us and will help define recent conflicts and their effects. However, SFCB cannot be done in isolation. What must be borne in the military planner‘s mind from the outset is that SFCB is a part of the wider SSR campaign and as a consequence must be part of a comprehensive approach. Furthermore, if coalition partners are present, an extra layer of complexity is present and must be planned for. Failure to take these two aspects into account runs the risk of failure at worst or a fragmented HNSF as a result, at best. This handbook aims to assist the military planner in their approach to SFCB. It is aimed at both commanders and staff officers, primarily on brigade and divisional staffs, although it also has utility for those charged with training, mentoring and advising HNSF forces at the tactical level.

Occupy Toronto Eviction Notice

The City of Toronto hereby directs you immediately to stop engaging in the activities listed above and to remove immediately any tent, shelter, structure, equipment and debris from St. James Park. If you do not immediately remove any and all tents, shelters, structures, equipment and debris from St. James Park, such tents, shelters, structures, equipment and debris shall be removed from St. James Park by or on behalf of the City of Toronto. You are further ordered immediately to stop using, entering or gathering in St. James Park between the hours of 12:01 a.m. and 5:30 a.m..

McGill University School of Architecture 2011 Cyclical Academic Unit Review

McGill School of Architecture 2011 Cyclical Academic Unit Review (AUR) withheld from students and the public after the dismissal of the Director of the School of Architecture (SoA) Michael Jemtrud. The document outlines the problematic relationship between the SoA and the Faculty of Engineering and attests to the fact that there is a clear division in the faculty over their support of Jemtrud. Students who asked to see the document, hoping to find in it some explanation for the swift and drastic changes made in the school, changes that had a direct impact on their academic careers, were told that the document was always intended to serve only as advisory to the Provost and as such would only been seen by an academic review committee, who would in turn draft a report (of the AUR) and present its findings to the Senate. The first meeting came and went, and the document was not brought up, not even alluded to.

Quebec Anti-Corruption Unit Report on Criminal Collusion in the Road Construction Industry

Le ministère des Transports du Québec signe de plus en plus de contrats puisque le volume de ses travaux est en pleine croissance. Sa planification quinquennale fait état de plus de 4 000 projets routiers qui en sont à différentes étapes de préparation. En moyenne, seulement pour les travaux de construction, plus de 700 nouveaux contrats sont octroyés annuellement’. Or dans ce contexte d’externalisation croissante des dépenses de l’État dans ce secteur d’activités, on craint que des entreprises concluent entre elles des ententes secrètes à leur bénéfice, mais qui sont préjudiciables au bien public. On parle ici de collusion entre quelques joueurs majeurs de l’industrie, ce qui permet une prise de contrôle occulte du processus d’attribution des contrats de sous-traitance, réservés alors à quelques initiés. Et si la collusion prend une telle importance dans le domaine particulier de la construction routière, c’est sans contredit en raison du caractère massif et continu des investissements qui y sont faits et qu’on nous annonce encore pour les années à venir.

G20/G8 Integrated Security Unit “Increased Awareness and Reporting” Handout

You are an important community partner and you can help us with our planning by asking your staff to be alert and vigilant. For instance, ask employees to:

Report to your security officers and the Toronto Police Service any suspicious persons found in the “staff only” areas of downtown locations,

Report to your security officers and the Toronto Police Service any suspicious activity that could be of potential concern such as suspicious photography in or around the work place; suspicious packages; insecure doors;