QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Huawei--5G Technology
November 18, 2020
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. It’s a supplementary question to the question asked by my colleague Senator Martin in regard to Huawei.
We’ve not seen the government table a budget for close to two years, and we all just assume that’s because they can’t count. But why are they dragging out for years a simple decision in regard to our national security and intelligence, which is to ban Huawei from our 5G network, and for that matter, from the marketplace altogether? We’ve had reports tabled in Parliament by security agencies in this country warning the government about the security risks, yet the government continues to drag its feet. Is there something more nefarious going on here?
We’ve seen over the last few months, government leader, a plethora of former government leaders in the Liberal Party — prime ministers, provincial premiers, ministers of Foreign Affairs — going as far as to call on the government to contravene a legal extradition treaty with the United States and engage in hostage trading.
Could the pressure from all these prominent Liberals on the government be the reason why the government is dragging its feet in taking what is a simple action to protect our national interest and our national security?
Well, senator, the simple answer is that Canada takes its security and the security of all Canadians and its infrastructure very seriously. Despite the adjectives you sprinkled throughout your question, our relations with China are complex, as we’ve discussed on many occasions, but the implication that there is something nefarious going on is not something that I would dignify with a response.
Canada continues, as I said, to look seriously at the issue of Huawei and to consult with its allies, and it will make a decision in the best interests of Canadians.
