Our blasé approach to intelligence makes Canada a choice target
Louise Blais is a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and former consul general to the U.S. She is currently diplomat-in-residence at Laval University.
Many of my colleagues, understandably, did not take the time out of their busy days to leave their phones on their desks and go into the special area, which required a bunch of extremely cumbersome security steps. Beyond the practical hurdles, the information contained in the documents often did not directly affect our work. Therefore, you had to go on faith, weekly, just in case there would be a nugget there that would make a difference.
I was directly involved in Canada’s last campaign to get a seat on the UN Security Council. It’s hard to overstate the sensitivity of the information we managed and exchanged. Yet, there we were on WhatsApp. Mind you, we were not alone. Other Western democracies cut corners too. Interestingly, not so much American diplomats, and certainly not the Chinese or the Russians.
As a result, when disaster does strike, we are always surprised. We react with shock: “How could they?” Then we deal with the latest interruption with all our might, but as a one-off, instead of taking stock of what it might mean more broadly.
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