THE Conservative Party and the NDP on Thursday slammed the Liberal government for taking three years to ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network.
Raquel Dancho, Conservative critic for Public Safety, and Gerard Deltell, Conservative critic for Innovation, Science and Industry, said in a statement: “For years, Conservatives have been calling on the Liberal government to respect the consensus among our Five Eyes allies and ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network, and for years, the Liberal government’s lack of action on this decision has been an international embarrassment.
“By last year, all of Canada’s Five Eyes allies had either banned or severely restricted the use of Huawei in their 5G infrastructure due to security concerns and the protection of economic interests. Conservatives repeatedly called on the Trudeau government to do the right thing and listen to security experts and the calls from our allies – but they refused.
“In the years of delay, Canadian telecommunications companies purchased hundreds of millions of dollars of Huawei equipment which will now need to be removed from their networks at enormous expense. Either the Liberal government is going to be asked for compensation from these companies or costs will be passed on to consumers. In either case, Justin Trudeau is forcing Canadians to bear the cost of his inaction and failure.
“Justin Trudeau’s delay in banning Huawei has damaged our allies’ confidence in Canada as a reliable ally and damaged the public’s confidence that this government will defend the national interest.
“We will continue to stand up for our national security and Canada’s interests at home and abroad.”
THE NDP critic for Innovation, Science and Industry, Brian Masse, said in a statement: “Today’s decision to finally ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network is long overdue. It has taken the Liberal government three years to make this decision while other Five Eyes countries made their positions known much sooner. This delay only worked to raise serious questions at home and among our allies about the Liberal government’s national security commitments and hampered the domestic telecommunications market.
“This delay to ban Huawei has cost Canadian consumers. The national security and privacy rights of Canadians was put at risk without good reason. The Liberals were the only Five Eyes government since 2020 not to ban or restrict Huawei, bringing unnecessary friction with our information sharing allies. During this time, the domestic telecom market has also been severely impacted as they were left in the dark about the future of 5G in Canada.
“New Democrats have been united over the past two years in calling for Huawei to be banned from Canada’s 5G network. The risks of not taking action on this important decision we’re clear, yet the Liberals chose to delay, and now Canadians have paid the cost. This government has said that ‘it wasn’t a race’ to make a quick decision but Canadians deserve a real explanation about why the decision to ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G networks took so long.”