The federal government has banned Huawei from working on Canada’s fifth-generation networks over security concerns — a decision critics say was long overdue.
The move puts Canada in line with key intelligence allies like the United States, which have expressed concerns about the national security implications of giving the Chinese tech giant access to key infrastructure.
The government is also banning ZTE, another Chinese state-backed telecommunications firm. A government policy statement posted online says companies will have until June 28, 2024, to remove or terminate 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE.
They’ll also have to remove or terminate any existing 4G equipment provided by the companies by Dec. 31, 2027. The policy statement says the government expects companies to stop purchasing new 4G or 5G equipment from the companies by September of this year.
“This is the right decision and we are pleased to announce it today because it will secure our network for generations to come,” Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne told a news conference Thursday.
WATCH | Canada bans Huawei from access to 5G network:
Canada bans Huawei from access to 5G network
10 hours ago
Duration 1:09
Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says banning the Chinese telecom company will help keep Canadians safe.
Responding to a question about the risk of retaliation from the Chinese government, Champagne didn’t indicate that was a factor in the government’s decision.
“Let me be clear, this is about Canada, this is about our national security, this is about our telecom infrastructure,” he said.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the decision marks “a new era in safeguarding our telecommunications industry.” He said the decision came after a “thorough government examination [of] 5G and wireless technologies.”
“Canada is a country where people can innovate and start new businesses and leverage new technologies in 5G and beyond, but we also need to safeguard against the risks which can be exploited within those networks,” he said.
Mendicino said new legislation is coming to protect 5G networks. The legislation will “establish a framework to better protect the systems vital to our national security and give the government a new tool to respond to emerging cyber threats,” Mendicino said.
In the 21st century, cybersecurity is national security. And it’s our government’s responsibility to protect Canadians from growing cyber threats.<br><br>Today, we announced our intention to prohibit Huawei and ZTE from Canada’s telecommunications system.
The minister said the legislation also will help protect infrastructure in the finance, energy and transport sectors.
China condemned the move against one of its national champions as a form of “political manipulation” carried out in co-ordination with the U.S., which was aimed at “suppressing” Chinese companies in violation of free market principles.
“China will comprehensively and seriously evaluate this incident and take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement posted on its website.
China commonly employs such language in commercial disputes, which often does not lead to a firm response from Beijing.
The Canadian government’s decision has been a long time coming. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government launched a review of the companies that would be permitted to service 5G networks during its first mandate.
Then-public safety minister Ralph Goodale promised to release a decision on Huawei before the 2019 federal election.
WATCH | Canada bans Huawei from telecom networks after years of delay
Canada bans Huawei from telecom networks after years of delay
8 hours ago
Duration 7:44
“This has never been about a race,” says Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne when pressed on why it took the Canadian government years to reach a decision to ban Huawei from telecommunication networks. “This is about Canada. This is about our national security.”
Opposition parties blast government, say decision comes too late
But opposition parties say the government waited far too long to make up its mind.
In a media statement, Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho and Gerard Deltell, the party’s critic for innovation, science and industry, said the government should have banned Huawei sooner.
“Conservatives repeatedly called on the Trudeau government to do the right thing and listen to security experts and the calls from our allies — but they refused,” they said in a statement.
They also raised concerns about the cost companies will have to bear to remove existing equipment.
“In the years of delay, Canadian telecommunications companies purchased hundreds of millions of dollars of Huawei equipment which will now need to be removed from their networks at enormous expense,” they said.
In a tweet, Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong also faulted the government.
“It shouldn’t have taken more than three years for the Trudeau government to ban Huawei,” Chong said.
“David Vigneault, director of CSIS (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service), publicly warned the government about the threat from Huawei in early December 2018.”
1/ It shouldn’t have taken more than 3 years for the Trudeau government to ban Huawei.<br><br>David Vigneault, director of CSIS, publicly warned the government about the threat from Huawei in early December 2018. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#cdnpoli</a><a href=”https://t.co/cUhCPm6ufw”>https://t.co/cUhCPm6ufw</a>
NDP critic for innovation, science and industry Brian Masse also criticized the government’s timing.
“It has taken the Liberal government three years to make this decision while the other Five Eyes countries made their positions known much sooner,” he said in a media statement.
“This delay only worked to raise serious questions at home and among our allies about the Liberal government’s national security commitments and hampered the domestic telecommunications market.”
Masse also said the government put Canadians’ security and privacy at risk by delaying the decision.
The development of 5G networks promises to give people speedier online connections and provide the greater data capacity required to allow more people, and things, to connect online.
While the federal government’s review of its 5G policy has taken a broad look at which companies can service the new, faster online networks, most of the attention has focused on whether Huawei would be allowed in — and the possible national security implications of giving it access.
Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino hold a press conference to announce that Huawei Technologies will be banned from Canada’s 5G networks in Ottawa on Thursday, May 19, 2022. (David Kawai/The Canadian Press)
The government went largely silent on the review’s progress after China imprisoned Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor nearly three years ago — an apparent act of retaliation for the RCMP’s arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant.
The two Canadians returned home last fall, hours after Meng reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. government.
Critics have warned that Huawei’s participation in Canada’s 5G networks could give the company an inside look at how, when and where Canadians use internet-connected devices — and that the Chinese government could force the company to hand over that personal information.
China’s National Intelligence Law says Chinese organizations and citizens must support, assist and co-operate with state intelligence work.
Huawei insists it is a fiercely independent company that does not engage in espionage for anyone, including Beijing.
Huawei executive not surprised by ban
In an interview with CBC’s Power & Politics, Alykhan Velshi, vice-president of corporate affairs for Huawei in Canada, said he’s not surprised by the decision but is still disappointed.
The government hasn’t provided evidence that Huawei is a national security threat, he said. He also questioned what the government will do about scheduled software upgrades for Huawei equipment already installed — something the company is talking to the government about right now, he added.
“I find it hard to believe the government is going to want to suspend those discussions,” he told host Vassy Kapelos.
WATCH | ‘This is a political decision’: Huawei VP on Canadian ban
‘This is a political decision’: Huawei VP on Canadian ban
8 hours ago
Duration 8:38
“This is a political decision,” said Huawei VP Alykhan Velshi of the Canadian government’s intention to ban Huawei from telecommunication networks. “It’s for the government to provide evidence that Huawei is a national security threat as they claim. They have not done so.”
“Our position is we’re going to continue supporting Huawei equipment in the network, and that will require a level of ongoing co-operation at the technical level between Huawei and the federal government — not just in the days and weeks ahead but, frankly, in the years ahead for as long as this equipment is part of Canada’s telecommunications network.”
Velshi said the company has about 1,500 employees in Canada and that most of them work in research and development. They’re not affected by the decision, he said.
He added that the company’s consumer products, such as phones and watches, aren’t affected by this decision. He said the company has focused on R&D and consumer products since 2018 in anticipation of the ban announced today.
“The reality is that Huawei will form part of Canada’s telecommunications sector for the foreseeable future,” he said
How might this affect the Canada-China relationship?
Various European nations and Canada’s allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group — including the U.S., U.K. and Australia — have made aggressive moves against Huawei, either by barring it from their networks or by restricting their use of Huawei equipment.
Late last year, China’s foreign ministry warned that Beijing’s relations with Canada stood “at a crossroads.”
Earlier in December, China’s ambassador to Canada signalled that keeping Huawei out would send a “very wrong signal.”
The government largely went silent on the 5G review’s progress after China imprisoned Michael Kovrig, right, and Michael Spavor, left, nearly three years ago. (Colin Hall/CBC, Chris Helgren/Reuters)
Huawei already supplies some Canadian telecommunications firms with 4G equipment.
As Global News has reported, telecommunication companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Huawei equipment while the federal government’s review of 5G was ongoing — although that number has waned over the years.
The government also risks a lawsuit under the terms of a foreign investor protection agreement signed by the government of Stephen Harper with China.
Under that agreement, Huawei Canada — as an existing investor with assets — could bring a claim against Canada.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
