More than seven months and more than seven months after the release of two Canadians detained in China since the end of 2018, the Trudeau government finally announced on Thursday that it would ban Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from Canadian phone networks with 5G wireless.
“The government wants to ban the use of Huawei and ZTE components and services in Canada’s telecommunications system,” Innovation Minister François-Philippe Shampagne said in Ottawa on Thursday.
“This follows a thorough review of our independent security agencies and consultation with our closest allies,” he added.
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Canadian security experts were almost unanimous in urging Ottawa to ban Huawei from 5G networks. In particular, they raised the risk that the Chinese government could spy on Canadians through “backdoor” embedded in its products and services. Huawei has always turned down this offer.
This would make Canada the last member of the Five Eyes (Five eyes)Excludes Huawei from its 5G networks, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
How many years?
“The key issue is how many years the government will allow companies to remove equipment from Huawei. Telus has 5G hardware and software from Huawei in its settings. We must urge him to remove them immediately, “said Tariq al-Hashimi, the party’s secretary general Registration Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former senior federal civil servant, now teaches at the University of Ottawa.
For its part, Bell has installed components from Huawei in earlier versions of its cellular infrastructure, which are also used in its 5G network.
According to National MailBell and Delos are suing Ottawa for the removal of Huawei equipment, but on Thursday Mr. Champagne said “no” when asked if they wanted to compensate them.
Both companies did not answer questions Newspaper Thursday.
Silence about the consequences
Relations between Canada and China deteriorated after the arrest of Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 following a US extradition request.
A few days later, China’s imprisonment of Canadians Michael Spover and Michael Gowrik marked a turning point in relations between the two countries.
On Thursday, Minister Champagne evaded the possibility of retaliation from China.
“It is in Canada’s best interest,” he said.
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