Universities have effectively removed research programs that pose security risks related to China, according to campus administrators..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Commons Science committee was told universities currently maintain active watch lists of donors who are considered suspicious..“We hear about potential threats, we hear about attempts to influence and so on and we take them very, very seriously,” testified Chad Gaffield, executive director of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities. .“I think we can be proud. In Canada, we can be proud that so far, our measures are working.”.“Have we gotten to the bottom of all this?” asked Conservative MP Ben Lobb (Huron-Bruce, ON). .“In 2018, we began taking this seriously,” replied Gaffield..“How do we verify this?” asked Lobb. .“We have to really seriously take the monitoring, the verification,” replied Gaffield..“Is there a number where universities have said to you, ‘Hey, look, there have been probably 20 cases in the last couple of years where we’ve probably crossed the line?'” asked Lobb. .“My sense is we have been managing this really successfully,” replied Gaffield..Philip Landon, who served as the interim president of Universities Canada and represented 97 institutions across the country, stated these campuses shared a "restricted entities list" containing names of suspected foreign agents..“When the restricted entities list, the named organization list and the sensitive research in technology area list merge, that federal funding would not be made available to researchers who are applying for that,” said Landon..The assurances followed contradictory June 20 testimony Canadians knew little of secret dealings between universities and Chinese partners such as Huawei Technologies. “We need to stop these terrible deals,” testified James Hinton, associate professor at Western University and senior fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation at Waterloo, ON..“Huawei has partnered with over 20 of Canada’s research institutions,” said Hinton. .“Huawei has received intellectual property from the University of Waterloo, the University of Toronto, McGill University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, the University of Ottawa, the University of Laval.”.Hinton also named the University of Regina, McMaster, Western and Carleton University. .“Significant public funding, millions of dollars and resources, are being used,” said Hinton. .“Hundreds of patents have been generated for Huawei through these deals. The commercial rights go to Huawei and they can use this technology in any manner they want.”.On May 19, 2022, the Canadian government decided to exclude Huawei Technologies from being a part of Canada's fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks..“Whether we protect our research or not, countries are using it to advance their national agendas,” said Hinton.
