Gov’t aiming to release Huawei decision before election: Goodale

The federal government plans to issue its decision on whether to ban equipment from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. from Canada’s 5G networks before this year’s federal election. “We understand the importance and the urgency of the question,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told reporters Tuesday. When asked whether the decision would be released before this year’s federal election, Goodale said “that is certainly my objective.” Goodale had previously refused to put a specific deadline in place for the decision and the ongoing national security review looking into whether the ban is necessary. The election is currently set for Oct. 21, though the government has the option of moving that date up to hold the vote earlier. BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. stand to be the most affected among Canadian telecoms should be the government put a ban in place. Bell has said a ban wouldn’t delay its 5G rollout and Telus has maintained it would be able to manage. Analysts have said that a ban is looking increasingly likely and pegged its potential cost anywhere from negligible to as high as $1 billion. Both sides have been quiet on the question of whether the government would compensate affected telecoms in the wake of a ban. Goodale said in February he hasn’t heard any discussion about compensation. When asked in an interview with The Wire Report in early April whether the government would consider compensating telecoms if it goes ahead with a ban, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains was non-committal. “I don’t want to prejudge the outcome,” he said. “We want to make sure that we do our proper due diligence, examine all the relevant facts, and make an informed decision. So I don’t think it would be appropriate for me at this time to speculate on the outcome of our decision.” Earlier today, the British Prime Minister Theresa May sacked her own defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, related to the leak of details from the British government’s deliberations over its own decision to allow Huawei to set up on the UK’s 5G infrastructure. Williamson denies having any involvement in the leak.

Gov’t aiming to release Huawei decision before election: Goodale

Brief | May 1, 2019

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Gov’t aiming to release Huawei decision before election: Goodale

Brief | May 1, 2019

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