In the news: CSE's expansion

Jim Bronskill of the Canadian Press reports on CSE's ongoing expansion: "Canada's secret eavesdropping agency is undergoing its biggest expansion in decades as it takes on a greater role in the fight against terrorism" (CP story, Globe and Mail pick up, Winnipeg Sun pick up...).

Its biggest expansion ever, if you want to get pedantic about it, and its fastest. CSE has had three major growth episodes during its 59-year history: an increase of about 600 over the 15 years between the agency's inception in 1946 and 1961; an increase of about 300 over the 10 years between 1980 and 1990; and the current increase, which is projected to total about 750 personnel over the six years between 2001 and 2007. When it reaches its final target level of 1,650 "full-time equivalents", CSE will have nearly twice as many employees as it had the year the Berlin Wall came down (1989 average: 835) and more than three times the average number it had over the Cold War as a whole (525).

Anyway, a good article by one of the only reporters (or the only reporter?) who regularly covers the Canadian intelligence beat. Read it while you can: newspapers don't tend to leave their stuff available online very long anymore.