The emergence of COVID-19 has raised urgent and important questions about the role of Canadian intelligence and national security within a global health crisis. Some argue that the effects of COVID-19 on Canada represent an intelligence failure, or a failure of early warning. Others argue that the role of intelligence and national security in matters of health is—and should remain—limited. At the same time, traditional security threats have rapidly evolved, themselves impacted and influenced by the global pandemic.

Stress Tested brings together leading experts to examine the role of Canada’s national security and intelligence community in anticipating, responding to, and managing a global public welfare emergency. This interdisciplinary collection offers a clear-eyed view of successes, failures, and lessons learned in Canada’s pandemic response.

Addressing topics including supply chain disruptions, infrastructure security, the ethics of surveillance within the context of pandemic response, the threats and potential threats of digital misinformation and fringe beliefs, and the challenges of maintaining security and intelligence operations during an ongoing pandemic, Stress Tested is essential reading for anyone interested in the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leah West is an assistant professor of International Affairs (National Security and Intelligence) at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, where she teaches national security law, counterterrorism, and public international law. She completed her SJD at the University of Toronto in 2020, where she studied the application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to state conduct in cyberspace. Beyond her SJD, Leah obtained an LLM in International Humanitarian and National Security from the University of Ottawa; a JD from the University of Toronto; an MA in Intelligence from the American Military University; and is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada. She previously worked as a National Security lawyer with the Department of Justice and served for a decade as an officer in the Canadian Army. 

Leah West's profile page

Thomas Juneau is associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a non-resident fellow with the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies.

Thomas Juneau's profile page

Amarnath Amarasingam is an Assistant Professor in the School of Religion, and is cross-appointed to the Department of Political Studies, at Queen’s University

Amarnath Amarasingam's profile page

This book is important, and worth reading, for its assessment of COVID-19 on national security.

Kurt F. Jensen, Intelligence and National Security

This book is important, and worth reading, for its assessment of COVID-19 on national security.

Kurt F. Jensen, Intelligence and National Security