Ottawa

The trouble with Huawei

After seeming not particularly concerned five months ago about Huawei’s dealing with Canadian firms, the Prime Minister is now maybe concerned about the possibility of the Chinese telecommunications company dealing with the federal government.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke cautiously when asked about the government’s plans to upgrade its communications network. “The government is going to be choosing carefully in the construction of this network and it has invoked the national security exception for the building of this network,” said Andrew MacDougall, Harper’s director of communications…

MacDougall did not say Tuesday whether this policy will exclude Huawei from winning bids for federal contracts. “I’m not going to comment on any one company in particular,” he told a news conference. “I’ll leave it to you if you think Huawei should be a part of the Canadian  government security system.”

The latest questions were raised by Greg Weston’s report for the CBC. The NDP is pointing to Huawei as a reason to be concerned about the Nexen deal. The Wall Street Journal compares Huawei’s receptions in the United States and Canada.

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