The Harper government is using its massive budget bill to quietly scrap the CSIS inspector general, a key official overseeing Canada's spy agency. (Shutterstock)

OTTAWA - The Harper government is using its massive budget bill to quietly scrap a key official overseeing Canada's spy agency.

A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says the surprise move to axe the inspector general of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will save taxpayers almost $1 million a year.

Julie Carmichael said the unannounced decision to cut the office — known as the minister's eyes and ears on CSIS — will actually strengthen independent oversight of the agency.

But independent experts say pushing more duties onto the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which is currently without a chairman, won't improve oversight.

When Toews announced the reappointment of inspector general Eva Plunkett in 2010, he said her office helps ensure that CSIS operates within the law and follows current policies.

Plunkett's annual reports to the minister have been frank and often highly critical, including a warning last year that the spy agency was failing to follow new accountability standards set by the Supreme Court of Canada.

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• Al Qaeda Attacks Timeline

  Feb. 26, 1993 - A bomb explodes in the garage of the World Trade Center.

• Aug. 7, 1998

  Truck bombs hit the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

• Oct. 12, 2000

  The U.S.S. Cole came under attack in the Yemeni city of Aden.

• Sept. 11, 2001

  Planes fly into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. Another plane crashes in Pennsylvania.

• April 11, 2002

  Explosion in the El Grhiba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia.

• Oct. 12, 2002

  Bombs explode in a nightclub in Bali, killing 202 people.

• Nov. 28, 2002

  Suicide car bombers hit a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya.

• May 12, 2003

  Al Qaeda bombers hit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• May 16, 2003

  Coordinated explosions hit Casablanca, Morocco.

• Aug. 19, 2003

  The U.N. headquarters in Baghdad are hit by a truck filled with explosives.

• Nov. 9, 2003

  Al Qaeda suicide bombers target a residential compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• March 11, 2004

  More than 130 people are killed by bombs in four trains in Madrid.

• July 7, 2005

  Bombs explode in the London subway, killing 52 people.

• Nov. 9, 2005

  Attacks on hotels in Amman, the Jordanian capital, are claimed by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

• April 11, 2007

  Suicide bombs explode in the Algerian capital Algiers.

• Dec. 11, 2007

  Al Qaeda claims responsibilities for attacks on U.N. offices in Algiers.

• Dec. 25, 2009

  Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of attempting to bomb a U.S.-bound plane.

• Jan. 25, 2010

  Suicide bombers hit hotels in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

• July 2010

  A French tourist is killed by al Qaeda in Morocco after being kidnapped in Niger.

• Oct. 31, 2010

  Gunmen attack a church in Baghdad during Sunday mass.

• Nov. 5, 2010

  Parcel bombs on their way to the United States are intercepted on planes in Britain and Dubai.

• Jan. 2011

  Two Frenchmen were found dead in Niger after being abducted by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

• April 28, 2011

  A bomb explodes in Morocco's tourist hub Marrakesh.