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Securitising ‘National Interests’: Canadian Federal Government Departments, Corporate Security Creep, and Security Regimes

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National Security, Surveillance and Terror

Part of the book series: Crime Prevention and Security Management ((CPSM))

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Abstract

National security and corporate security are typically conceptualised as distinct realms of inquiry and practice. This chapter explores how these two security domains are increasingly fused in Canada at the federal level. We draw on freedom of information data regarding six national departments, usually associated with maintaining national security. The overlap between these realms is not limited to national security ‘responsibilising’ or activating private corporations to gather information; nor is it exclusively about corporate security agents providing services for national security initiatives through outsourced arrangements. Instead the overlap is primarily in the organisation of these departments. We conclude by outlining why there should be greater dialogue between scholars studying national and corporate security in Canada, Australia, and beyond.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Barrick Gold corporate security units conduct security risk assessments on local communities and other entities construed as threats. They take steps to manage risks. They set up perimeters, key card access points, surveillance cameras, and physical and technology security features at their mining sites and offices. They establish control rooms to coordinate these practices. Corporate security units respond to what they call critical incidents including fraud, theft, bomb threats, and attempted robberies. They also investigate and monitor employees (Barrick Gold Corporation 2012).

  2. 2.

    We also encountered barriers during data collection. We submitted similar requests to numerous federal government departments, including the Department of National Defence and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The former’s ATI Coordinator stalled the request claiming the Department of National Defence did not have a corporate security unit. We engaged in several tense conversations with the ATI Coordinator, noting that all federal government agencies that received the same request had so far indicated they had such a unit and would comply. Yet this ATI Coordinator continued to insist the Department of National Defence had no such corporate security unit, and indicated he wanted to close the file. We then located open source material, including policy and budget documents, on the Department of National Defence website that pointed to the existence of their corporate security unit. Upon receiving this material, the ATI Coordinator then chose an unusual course of action by asking us to contact a member of the corporate security unit to clarify search parameters. The unit representative then indicated the requested information was not formatted to fit the parameters of the search as per the original wording, and so asked for drastic alteration of the request. We complied and the representative eventually released some files outside of the ATI process but had effectively responded to the request in a way that was neither open nor forthcoming, and had disclosed information in a format ill-suited to our interests. These data from the Department of National Defence are incomplete, so we have not analysed them for this chapter. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police eventually released material but it was mostly redacted and exempted and so was not included in our analysis either.

  3. 3.

    These data resulted from the following access to information requests (by ATI reference number): National Defence A-2013-01210; Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada A-2013-01918; Canada Border Services Agency A-2013-09431; Correctional Service Canada A-2013-00369; Correctional Service Canada A-2013-00372; Environment Canada A-2014-00076; Royal Canadian Mounted Police A-2013-05815; Government of Canada Privy Council Office A-2014-00037. These are referenced in text by Department acronym. For additional information, please contact Kevin Walby.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Kevin Walby

  2. Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada

    Randy K. Lippert

  3. Law/Criminology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

    James Gacek

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  1. Kevin Walby
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  2. Randy K. Lippert
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  3. James Gacek
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada

    Randy K. Lippert

  2. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Winnipeg, Centennial Hall, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Kevin Walby

  3. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Ian Warren

  4. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Darren Palmer

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Walby, K., Lippert, R.K., Gacek, J. (2016). Securitising ‘National Interests’: Canadian Federal Government Departments, Corporate Security Creep, and Security Regimes. In: Lippert, R., Walby, K., Warren, I., Palmer, D. (eds) National Security, Surveillance and Terror. Crime Prevention and Security Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43243-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43243-4_7

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