A pair of US Senators has written to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, warning that doing business with Huawei would open up a huge security risk. Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Mark Warner want Canada to follow the US and Australia and block Huawei from supplying 5G equipment in the country, the CBC reports.
The senators pointed to Huawei's alleged ties to the Chinese government, which exerts strong influence on major companies like the telecom equipment maker. Furthermore, if Canada adopted Huawei technology in its 5G networks, this could affect the sharing of sensitive information with allies, according to the letter seen by the Globe and Mail. The US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand constitute the Five Eyes alliance, which allows police, prosecutors and spies to exchange confidential information to prevent espionage and terrorism.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale's office said in a statement to the CBC that "the issues are well understood. The safety and security of Canadians is our paramount concern."
Huawei would not comment specifically on the Senators' letter. The company said it has worked "openly and transparently with the government of Canada and Canadian operators without issue, and are committed now, and in the future, to meeting their requirements."
No ban needed
The letter comes a few weeks after a top government security official said it was not necessary for Huawei to be banned in Canada. Scott Jones, the new head of Ottawa’s Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, said the country has a robust system of testing facilities for Huawei equipment and software to prevent security breaches, the Globe and Mail reported.
“We have a very advanced relationship with our telecommunications providers, something that is different from most other countries to be honest from what I have seen,” Jones told the House of Commons committee on public safety and national security. “We have a program that is very deep in terms of working on increasing that broader resilience piece especially as we are looking at the next-generation telecommunications networks."
