History
CSIS was created on June 21, 1984 by an Act of Parliament passed as a consequence of the McDonald Commission. The main thrust of the McDonald Report was that security intelligence work should be separated from policing, and that the activities of a new agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, should be subject to both judicial approval for warrants, as well as general oversight review by a new body, the Security Intelligence Review Committee, as well as the office of the Inspector General. Its de facto existence began on July 16 under the direction of Thomas D'Arcy Finn. Before this, Canadian intelligence had been under the jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service.
During the Cold War, the CSIS was tasked with tracking down foreign spies in Canada, relying heavily on the use of "technological gadgets" to uncover espionage activities. More recently, it has engaged in investigating economic espionage involving Chinese operations throughout Canada.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Security Intelligence Service
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