CIN FORUM

Ladies and gentlemen,

I write to let you know we have begun to consider program activity for the fall of 2025. With your help, we will develop a useful and interesting roster of things to do, all of which will enhance our understanding of the overall intelligence function, as it is practiced in various departments, agencies, and offices across all levels of government and industry. The aim of this note is to ask each of you to forward your ideas about what you would like to see, hear, or discuss.

Given the positive turn in government national security rhetoric, it might be worthwhile to track how closely actual development in the Canadian Intelligence Enterprise (CIE) matches political intent. There will be no shortage of things to talk about. On the academic front, we should begin to formally audit instances of intelligence higher learning being offered in Canadian universities. Thinking ahead, CIN/RCR might consider offering formal course evaluations to those programs we do find.

The general framework calls for monthly Virtual Intelligence Coffee Shop (VICS) online discussions, centered on one or two guest presenters who can speak on a topic of interest for about 15 minutes, and then engage in discussion with the online audience. We can have other 'special' online events too, devoted to a particular issue that might arise in the news, or with which any one of you is intimately involved... anything that will provide us with a profitable discussion of related intelligence issues.

For those of you living in the Ottawa area, we will hold at least two Ottawa Intelligence Dinner Club (OIDC) events, one in September, another in November. Should be find a 'target of opportunity' (notable person in town) to join us, we could have a third night out.

We are also considering a number of formal seminars, lasting only for a morning, afternoon, or evening, for an in-person audience and an online audience. These would be paying events.

The Board of Directors will be meeting in July, to discuss all this.

Until then, I invite all members to submit their thoughts, here in the CIN/RCR forum, about what you would like to see, hear, or discus during our fall 2025 program. We'll be developing a winter/spring 2026 program too, so don't hesitate to offer a number of ideas.

We will also be looking for candidates who might volunteer to become a member of the Board of Directors (see details of duties and responsibilities in the CIN/RCR bylaw). As our organization evolves, we will also be looking for Board Officers to fill duties such as Secretary, Membership Secretary, website manager etc., so please let us know if you are interested in getting involved in association governance.

In the meantime, all members are invited to be more aggressive in using this Forum for networking and exchanging ideas. The CIN/RCR Blog is available for more substantial contributions and continuing discussion about specific issues/topics. In a few days, I'll be offering some thoughts on the philosophy of intelligence - for those who didn't know there was such a thing.

CIN/RCR has grown over the past couple of months and can now boast of a reach from coast to coast to coast. We have an impressive array of talent, so it's time we exploited it. Please give us your ideas about the way ahead.

Best regards,

Jim