Toronto — Documents obtained under Access to Information legislation by The Narwhal confirm that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) embraced a proposal from pipeline giant TC Energy to create a formal information-sharing alliance between Canada’s spy agency and the country’s biggest corporations [1].
The documents show that in February 2024, TC Energy proposed the creation
of a “Canadian Security Alliance Council” modeled on a US program where intelligence agencies exchange information directly with private companies. CSIS not only welcomed the proposal but also encouraged TC Energy to lobby for legislative changes that would allow the sharing of classified information with corporations. Those changes were later included in Bill C-70 (an Act respecting countering foreign interference) that was rushed through Parliament in 2024.
“Canada’s spy agency should be protecting people, not cutting deals with Big Oil,” said Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist at Greenpeace Canada. “This intelligence sharing blurs the line between public security and corporate interests and risks putting Indigenous land defenders and climate activists under increasingly invasive surveillance for peacefully opposing fossil fuel expansion.”
The documents, a copy of which were obtained by Greenpeace Canada, confirm the level of cooperation and also show CSIS senior officials celebrating the speed with which Bill C-70 was passed, highlighting their success in expanding disclosure powers to include “any person or entity” — meaning private corporations like TC Energy.
Greenpeace Canada warns that the Carney government’s Strong Border Act (Bill C2), which was supposed to be debated by Parliament this fall but has since been delayed due to concerns of “overreach”, would further expand surveillance powers without warrants, raising the possibility of even more information gathered through invasive means being shared directly with multinational oil companies like TC Energy.
“Instead of focusing on the real threat to Canadians — climate change — our security agencies are building alliances with the very corporations fueling the crisis,” added Keith Stewart. “Canada needs to be moving away from fossil fuels to protect Canadians from climate change, not deepening relationships with Big Oil.”
“Under the guise of responding to foreign interference in our elections, CSIS was able to gain the ability to share classified intelligence with corporations like TC Energy. Now, under the guise of ‘strengthening our borders’ with Bill C-2, the Carney government would give CSIS even more power to gather information and surveil people without a warrant, and they already have the ability to share intelligence with corporations. This is a situation ripe for further abuse.”
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Read the full backgrounder, with links to the original documents obtained by the Investigative Journalism Foundation, here
For more information, contact:
Patou Oumarou, Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected] , +1 418 431 0263
