So, the Liberal government awarded a sensitive RCMP communications contract to an Ontario company controlled by a Chinese company blacklisted by the US. Only in China-loving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Canada, could that happen. (Seriously, he once told us he admired the way China could 'turn their economy on a dime.) The Liberals awarded Sinclair Technologies a $549,637 contract to provide equipment and maintain a radio frequency filtering system that’s supposed to, in part, protect the RCMP’s land-based radio communications from eavesdropping..According to an explosive CBC Radio-Canada report, Sinclair beat out Comprod Inc., a Quebec-based communications technology firm, in a bid with a difference of less than $60,000..Comprod has no ties to China.. Anita AnandAnita Anand .The contract was awarded on October 6, 2021, by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), headed at the time by Anita Anand. She has since been promoted to minister of national defence. (How comforting is that?) Sinclair has been controlled by Shenzen China-based Hytera Communications since 2107. The Chinese government owns 10% of Hytera. Radio-Canada reported that a PSPC spokesperson said the department “did not take security concerns and Sinclair's ownership into consideration during the bidding process.”.That is shockingly, willfully negligent..Most Canadians, and security experts, are bright enough to know that taking all necessary precautions to protect the communications of Canada’s national police force is a big deal..So, where was Brenda Lucki? Did the RCMP commissioner not know that the US had blacklisted Hytera months before the contract was awarded? A quick Google search would have enlightened her. If she somehow didn’t know, she’s inept. If she did, this is but another example of her being too weak to stand up to the Trudeau government that has such a soft spot for all that is China..On November 23, Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro called on the federal government to “immediately rescind” Lucki’s appointment. He cited Lucki’s role in risking the “integrity of an investigation of a mass shooting.”.“Further, as revealed last week, she failed to inform the federal cabinet of all law enforcement options available prior to the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act,” said Shandro. “In two major public inquiries, commissioner Lucki was given an opportunity to take accountability and prove to Canadians that RCMP leadership could make changes to ensure errors in judgement would not happen again. Instead, commissioner Lucki, in sworn testimony, has dodged accountability and excused her actions,” wrote Shandro to Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino..All that, and now this..If Lucki bellowed (doubtful) behind closed doors about concerns that a Chinese-controlled company got its mitts on ‘protecting’ RCMP communications, it was obviously futile. Wouldn’t she have an obligation to go public with concerns to protect the law enforcement agency she heads?.Perhaps the communications system is, after all, secure in the hands of Sinclair..But what if it’s not? Can Hytera access RCMP radio frequencies? Conveniently citing “customer confidentiality” Sinclair spokesman Wee Er declined to answer that simple question posed by Radio-Canada. So, customer confidentiality trumps being assured that potential eavesdropping won’t put RCMP members during investigations at risk. The Mounties slugging it out in the trenches to protect Canadians deserve better..And what if they are investigating illegal activities of the Chinese government in Canada? On March 12, 2021, the US Public Safety and Homeland Bureau included Hytera on its list of “communications equipment and services (Covered List) 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…”.Hytera was booted out of the US, and both sales and exports of any of its equipment were banned..But Canada had no problem with giving the go-ahead for Hytera to provide RCMP with equipment. Huawei Technologies was on that US list also. Last May, the Liberal government cited security concerns when it also banned Huawei from working on Canada's fifth-generation networks..Hytera? No problem with it being connected to an RCMP contract and possibly having access to communications and data..No comment from Lucki and the Liberals, even after a 21-count indictment was unsealed February 7 in the US District Court in Chicago, alleging Hytera conspired with former Motorola Solutions employees to steal technology. The allegedly illicit activities spanned 2007-2020..“The indictment alleges that PRC-based (People’s Republic of China) Hytera Communications Corp. LTD recruited and hired Motorola Solutions employees and directed them to take proprietary and trade secret information from Motorola without authorization,” reads the department of justice statement..“The charges allege that, while still employed at Motorola, some of the employees allegedly accessed the trade secret information from Motorola’s internal database and sent multiple emails describing their intentions to use the technology at Hytera.”.This is not to suggest any RCMP members, or contractors who must have security clearance, would do anything untoward. But it is clearly a fiery red flag that Hytera might not be trustworthy. But the three-year contract Sinclair/RCMP wasn’t cancelled after that US justice department revelation..But no worries, suddenly everyone is really, very concerned about a contract awarded more than two years ago..On Wednesday Trudeau called the ‘news’ of the contract “disconcerting” and said the federal government will review it. Are we to surmise that Lucki didn’t, at any point, voice objections?.Well, thank goodness Radio-Canada stepped up to let the prime minister know what is going on..Mendicino chimed in to assure us that his staff has been instructed to review the process by which the contract was awarded. So, no silly Canadians, the Liberals don’t expect you to blindly accept the faith they had in a Chinese-controlled company tasked with overseeing RCMP communications. Poor things are shellshocked by the distressing news..Trust us, they always say, as they merrily carry on placing their interests, and time and again the interests of foreign players, before Canadian interests and possibly safety..Now, just ignore China’s deception about the COVID-19 pandemic..Don’t fret about the investigation into China interfering in Canada’s 2019 federal election — an allegation downplayed by Trudeau and the gang and something Lucki refuses to comment on because it is “ongoing.”.Going forward, they can spin this Hytera connection to RCMP communications all they want. It stinks.
