OTTAWA –
Public Security Secretary Marco Mendicino says there is no such thing as a cause to consider Canada’s nationwide safety has at any time been threatened on account of the RCMP’s dealings with an Ontario firm with ties to China.
Mendicino on Monday tried to reassure members of a Home of Commons committee inspecting the RCMP’s standing bid with Sinclair Applied sciences for high-frequency filtering gear.
The standing supply has been suspended and a piece freeze on undelivered items was issued final month following a report by Radio-Canada on the settlement.
Sinclair’s mum or dad firm, Norsat Worldwide, has been owned by Chinese language telecom firm Hytera since 2017, and the Chinese language authorities owns a 10% stake in Hytera by means of an funding fund.
The US Federal Communications Fee banned using Hytera know-how for public security, state safety, and important infrastructure surveillance functions in 2021 when it was deemed a nationwide safety danger.
The gear utilized by the RCMP doesn’t have the technical capabilities to entry Mountie’s radio communications, Mendicino informed the committee.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bryan Larkin stated the machine would not transmit communications however filters out interference.
He stated two evaluations had been nonetheless ongoing: an inside due diligence evaluate and a technical investigation into the gear in query.
An preliminary examination of one of many gadgets from a cell tower in Ontario discovered no indicators of compromise, Larkin stated. Extra such gear spot checks are happening throughout the nation, he added.
“The following one will likely be in British Columbia. And we will come again to the committee in writing with that data at a later date as we make progress throughout the nation.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first printed on January 30, 2023.