By Joshua Errett

Like most media outlets, Torontoist loves those hot button issues. And right now, what hot button issue is hotter than Canadian spies operating overseas? In a year-end interview with the Edmonton Sun, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan finally got around to addressing Canada’s imminent spy problem.
“We may want to redefine the existing section of the CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) legislation to give them broader powers abroad, and perhaps to gather different kinds of intelligence,” said McLellan.
When asked about expanding CSIS in the global community, Prime Minister Paul Martin responded that he didn’t know what CSIS was and that McLellan should shut her face.
McLellan went on to speak of spying in relation to North America’s collective fear of terrorism, saying that “[i]ntelligence is the lifeblood of preventing further terrorist acts.” These comments, however, proved somewhat problematic since most Canadians think intelligence doesn’t involve such redonkulous defence schemes.