The RCMP has suspended a controversial telecommunications contract with a China-controlled company facing multiple espionage charges in the US..Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s office confirmed Thursday that the RCMP suspended a three-year contract with Ontario’s Sinclair Technologies, owned by Shenzen China-based Hytera since 2017. The Chinese government holds a 10% interest in Hytera..As well, the Department of National Defence (DND) told Global News it is investigating 12 contracts worth $252,296 awarded to Sinclair between 2009-2013 for work on antennas, waveguides and related equipment..Hytera took control of Sinclair’s parent company Norsat International in 2017..“We are aware of the concerns surrounding Sinclair Technologies. We are investigating these procurements and the way in which this equipment is used, alongside counterparts in other government departments,” a DND spokesperson told Global News..Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) awarded a $549,637 contract to Sinclair for radio frequency filtering equipment intended to protect the RCMP’s land-based radio communications from eavesdropping. .That contract was awarded October 6, 2021, when now National Defence Minister Anita Anand was minister of PSPC..Months earlier, on March 12, 2021, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had already blacklisted Hytera, banned import and sales of its equipment, and the US justice department levelled numerous charges against Hytera..The US Public Safety and Homeland Bureau included Hytera on its list of “communications equipment and services that are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons…”.Mendicino and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday the federal government would look into the matter. .However, they did so only after an explosive CBC Radio-Canada report revealed that Sinclair beat out Quebec’s Comprod Inc., a communications technology firm with no links to China, in a bid with a difference of less than $60,000..A PSPC spokesperson told Radio-Canada the department didn’t take security concerns and Sinclair's ownership into consideration during the bidding process..The suspension of the contract came on the heels of the RCMP issuing a statement to the National Post that assured Canada’s national police was confident the technology and equipment supplied by Sunclair posed “no security concerns” and that radio communications were protected with “end-to-end encryption.”.“The RCMP have confirmed that the contract with Sinclair Technologies has been suspended and that they're conducting further reviews to ensure that the integrity of our infrastructure is in place,” Pam Damoff, parliamentary secretary to Mendicino said during Question Period in the House of Commons Thursday..PSPC Minister Helena Jaczek said the ministry will “look very closely” at procedures for awarding contracts “with the greatest intensity to ensure security of our infrastructure.”.“Why is (our prime minister) always so feeble when it comes to standing up to the regime in China?” asked Conservative MP Luc Berthold..When questioned by media Wednesday Trudeau said the news of the RCMP contract with a China-linked company was “disconcerting.”.Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday that the contract should be “banned and reversed” and demanded an explanation from Trudeau on how it came to be awarded..“He's head of government, and this is a government contract.” .The revelation of a sensitive RCMP communications contract awarded to a China-linked company comes on the heels concerns about foreign interference in Canada..This includes allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 federal elections, and Chinese police stations operating in Vancouver and Toronto.
