Who is putting security at risk at the Communications Security Establishment Canada? CSEC or PSAC?
One of the most high-security agencies of the Canadian government, the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is trying to silence all opposition to its Public-Private Partnership project for its new building by trying to stop the Public Service Alliance of Canada from explaining what are the risks for the taxpayers.
Management at CSEC has advised the PSAC that they will block elected Union leaders from entering the CSEC grounds and talking to union members who work at CSEC during a planned barbecue.
A demonstration has been set for tomorrow, Wednesday June 10, 11:00 a.m. in front of the CSEC building on Riverside Drive (adjacent to Canada Post) before the barbecue. The union is using the event to shed light to the dangers of the P3 project.. According to Maria Fitzpatrick, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region, “does it really make sense to allow private contractors to have unprecedented access to the some of the country’s most sensitive information?”
PSAC believes that the federal government is inviting security breaches by proposing to have the private sector operate this new high security building. According to John MacLennan, president of the Union of National Defence Employees -- a component of the PSAC --, “It just doesn't make sense to hand over the design and maintenance of critical, high-security infrastructure to the private sector.” PSAC members provide essential security services to the agency.
MacLennan and union members are going to hand out leaflets in front of the CSEC building to explain why they oppose to this project. The union was informed in May by CSEC management that it intends to build and operate new facilities through a P3 arrangement that would see the private sector bid on a contract to design, build, fund and maintain the facility.
“Saying that a P3 would facilitate quicker completion and place all of the risk of the contract on the private sector is ridiculous,” says MacLennan. “The Canadian landscape is littered with P3s that have failed to come in either on time or on budget and the public is always left holding the bag.”
“We only have to look at the recent P3 project at the Royal Ottawa Hospital to be scared,” adds Maria Fitzpatrick. “This is one project that went so wrong that the original costs have increase by 50%. Just imagine the dire consequences at CSEC where secrecy is paramount. Security is too important to hand it out to the private sector.”
The CSEC provides IT network security and foreign intelligence gathering. CSEC has already been cited by the Auditor General for potential breaches in security created when outside contractors have been used. With the P3 project, over 130 people providing critical logistical services at CSE would be transferred from the public service to the private sector. How long will it take for there to be an even more serious breach of security?
The union is urging Parliamentarians to demand the CSEC business case that led to the P3 option to allow for a thorough examination into the assumptions being made about P3s.
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FOR INFORMATION: Maria Fitzpatrick, REVP-PSAC - 613-560-4380
John MacLennan, National President, UNDE - 613-639-5180
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