QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Huawei--5G Technology
December 8, 2020
Honourable senators, my question for the government leader is a follow-up to a question I asked a few weeks ago. In July, the U.K. government announced that British telecom carriers had to stop buying 5G equipment from Huawei at the end of this year and to remove Huawei kit from their infrastructure by 2027. Recently, the U.K. government has gone a step further, setting a deadline of September 2021 for carriers to stop any further installation of Huawei equipment and introducing a bill in their House of Commons to enshrine into legislation these directives regarding high-risk vendors.
Leader, this illustrates how seriously one of our closest allies, and Five Eyes partner, regards the security threat posed by Huawei. Why has your government not shown a similar sense of urgency to complete its 5G security review in Canada?
Thank you for the question. The security of our infrastructure is of fundamental importance, not only to Canada but to its allies, as you properly point out. Canada has a very robust relationship not only with the Five Eyes, of which it is a part, but with many other countries with whom it has arrangements for the protection of our citizens and theirs. Canada remains committed to making sure that our infrastructure is as secure as it can be. Risks come from many quarters, as was pointed out in recent analysis.
I can assure this chamber that there is a robust discussion going on within government and with the five allies as to the best way to protect our networks. When a decision has been reached, it will be announced.
Again, we are the last of the Five Eyes allies, and it is a very important alliance. Just like the budget has been delayed for almost two years, the same goes for this decision.
North American telecom carries such as TELUS, Bell and Verizon have joined tech giants such as Apple and Samsung on the next G Alliance industry group to develop what 6G will look like. Leader, what do you think is most likely to happen first, the deployment of 6G technology or a final decision from your government’s security review of 5G and Huawei?
Senator, when I was a graduate student at law school, my constitutional law teacher, Laurence Tribe, said that if you live by the crystal ball, you have to be prepared to eat glass. I have a strong stomach, as you can tell from my performance this year, but, frankly, I don’t know what will come first. I do know that the government is focused on the issue, and it is focused on the security of our infrastructure and will make the announcements when it’s ready to do so.
