https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-former-top-canadian-security-officials-join-call-for-ottawa-to-nix/
Former top Canadian security officials warn Ottawa to sever links with China’s Huawei
Robert Fife and Steven Chase
OTTAWA
Published 2 days ago
Updated 2 days ago
Three former directors of Canada’s key national security agencies are urging the federal government to heed the warnings of U.S. intelligence services and cut Canadian ties with Huawei, the giant Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker.
Ward Elcock, John Adams and Richard Fadden are weighing in on the matter after the heads of the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency recently told the U.S. Senate intelligence committee that Huawei poses a cybersecurity threat to American customers. U.S. spymasters say Huawei’s smartphones and networking equipment could be used to conduct undetected espionage, especially the next, advanced generation of 5G technology.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told The Globe and Mail in a statement on Friday that Huawei is being monitored and does not pose a risk to Canada’s cybersecurity.
But Mr. Elcock, a former CSIS director, deputy minister of National Defence, and Security and Intelligence Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council, said he shares U.S. concerns about Huawei, which was founded by a former engineer in the People’s Liberation Army and has been accused of acting as an arm of Beijing.
“I have a pretty good idea of how signal-intelligence agencies work and the rules under which they work and their various operations and … I would not want to see Huawei equipment being incorporated into a 5G network in Canada,” Mr. Elcock told The Globe. Signals intelligence is the monitoring and interception of predominantly foreign communications by national security agencies.