QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Public Safety
Huawei--5G Technology
March 30, 2022
Minister, you are now the third minister for public safety to hold this portfolio since the Trudeau government began its 5G security review in September 2018. Multiple times since, your government has promised Canadians that a decision was coming in regard to banning Huawei from our 5G. We were told that we would get a decision before the 2019 election, and we were told again that we would get a decision after the 2019 election. Of course, we’re still waiting.
The endless delay and indecision from your government has gotten to the point that, earlier this month, Huawei actually trolled your government on Twitter asking, “What’s the opposite of being banned?” The Government of Canada is being openly mocked by Huawei, minister, and still we have heard nothing from the government. Minister, when will the NDP-Liberal government come to a decision, yes or no? Will we ban Huawei once and for all?
Thank you very much, senator. Before I get to the substance of my response, I want to thank you and all of the senators for welcoming me to my maiden voyage here in this Question Period. It is truly an honour and a privilege to be joining you in this chamber. It is an impressive body of work that you contribute to our democracy, and I want to begin by expressing my gratitude for all of the work, the studies and the interventions that you bring on behalf of Canadians.
Senator, you raise an important question around 5G, and you are quite right that the government is committed to rendering a decision and issuing a statement as soon as we possibly can. I will say that it is also important that we get this decision right, and that we look as the principles and the values that underscore the decision but, equally, that we understand the threats to our national security as they have evolved as it relates to any potential challenges that may be presented in the context of 5G and of our cyber infrastructure. I assure you that we appreciate the urgency that you have expressed in your question. As soon as we can communicate a decision, we will do so.
Thank you, minister. Clearly, you do not appreciate the urgency because it has been three years and we’re still waiting for a clear and unequivocal answer on whether we will ban them or we won’t.
In December, The Washington Post reported 100 confidential PowerPoint presentations that lay out Huawei’s participation in mass surveillance of Chinese people by their communist regime, including the local tracking of political persons of interest. The document also shows how Huawei is involved in human rights violations against the Uighurs in Xianjing province through surveillance, cameras and facial recognition. One document appears to show that Huawei did technology design work on their prisons. Is this not enough reason to ban Huawei, minister? If this is not reason enough, what will it take for your government to ban them? And, please, it should not take three or four more years until we get a final decision.
Well, I would begin by agreeing with the last sentence in your question, senator. We certainly don’t anticipate that it will take anything close to that period of time.
I want to assure you that as we undertake a careful review of all of the factors that go into this important decision that we are not sitting idle, that we are deploying a number of strategies and countermeasures to ensure that any hostile actors, be they state or non-state, are being mitigated and addressed in real time. We’ve made significant investments into our national security apparatus with the various agencies that report to my portfolio, as well as others within government, so that as we leverage the new technologies and innovations that are important to keep Canadians and others connected through the internet and cyberspace we are doing so in a way that recognizes that there have been evolutions to the threat landscape, including those which may be perpetrated by hostile state actors. We’re very mindful of the concerns that you have expressed. We do recognize that there is an expectation and an urgency to communicating the decision and we will do so as quickly as we can.
