Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says there is no reason to believe Canada's national security was under threat at any time due to the RCMP's dealings with an Ontario company that has links to China.
Mendicino tried on Monday to reassure members of a House of Commons committee who are looking at the RCMP's standing offer with Sinclair Technologies for radio-frequency filtering equipment.
The standing offer was suspended and a stop-work order for undelivered goods was issued last month after a Radio-Canada report about the arrangement.
Sinclair's parent company, Norsat International, has been owned by Chinese telecommunications firm Hytera since 2017, and the Chinese government owns a 10 per cent stake in Hytera through an investment fund.
The United States Federal Communications Commission banned the use of Hytera technology for the purpose of public safety, government security and surveillance of critical infrastructure in 2021 when it was deemed a risk to national security.
The equipment being used by the RCMP does not have the technical capability to access Mountie radio communications, Mendicino told the committee.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bryan Larkin said the equipment does not transmit any communication, but rather filters out interference.
He said two reviews are still underway: an internal audit of due diligence and a technical study of the equipment in question.
An initial examination of one of the devices from an Ontario radio tower revealed no sign of compromise, Larkin said. Other such spot examinations of the equipment are taking place across the country, he added.
"The next one will be in British Columbia. And we can come back to the committee with that information in writing at a later time as we progress across the nation."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
More than 130,000 people have signed an e-petition calling on Canada to give transgender and non-binary people fleeing harmful laws in their home countries the right to claim asylum, but that's already possible in this country. Advocates say the popularity of the proposal shows politicians that Canadians want the government to affirm its welcoming position.
The Public Order Emergency Commission has concluded that the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the 'Freedom Convoy' protests and blockades.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
The only thing most Canadians will remember about the budget this time next week is how the booze tax increase was reduced to two per cent from six, writes Don Martin in a column for CTVNews.ca.
Joe Biden comes for a sleepover next week to make Canada the 18th country he has visited since being sworn in as U.S. president, quite the protocol slippage from that fading, if not forgotten, tradition of Canada being the first foreign presidential pitstop, writes Don Martin in a column for CTVNews.ca.
After weeks of refusing to look further into foreign election interference, Justin Trudeau surrendered to intense pressure and appointed a 'special rapporteur' to review China's actions. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin writes this 'startling change of heart' suggests the PMO is in panic mode and reflects badly on the prime minister's decision making.
The Trudeau tipping point is within sight. The moment when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knows he has to quit for the good of the party or the Liberals realize they can't survive re-election with him at the helm is almost upon us, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Bombshell revelations that suggest Chinese agents actively, fraudulently and successfully manipulated Canada's electoral integrity in the last two federal elections cannot be dismissed with the standard Justin Trudeau nothing-to-see-here shrug, Don Martin writes in his exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Thursday, making him the first former U.S. president to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House next year.
Rogers Communications Inc's $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. cleared the last regulatory hurdle Friday, more than two years after the deal was first announced.
The bodies of six people, including one child, were found in the St. Lawrence River Thursday afternoon after an air search involving the Canadian Coast Guard, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police said.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A long list of failures by Nova Scotia RCMP leadership and policing systems dominate the final report into Nova Scotia's April 2020 mass shooting.
Canada needs standardized data on violence on transit systems to help tackle issues ranging from a lack of mental health supports to eroding public trust, say researchers, citing the recent stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy at a Toronto station as the latest example of random attacks on commuters.
Gwyneth Paltrow won her court battle over a 2016 ski collision at a posh Utah ski resort after a jury decided Thursday that the movie star wasn't at fault for the crash.
The vote of a Manhattan grand jury to indict the Republican former president on charges related to hush money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign catapults the now-candidate Donald Trump into a new era of legal risk and complicates his attempts to return to the White House.
This Sunday, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will announce the four astronauts that will be blasting off to fly around the moon for the Artemis II mission, one of whom will be a Canadian astronaut.
The bodies of six people, including one child, were found in the St. Lawrence River Thursday afternoon after an air search involving the Canadian Coast Guard, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police said.
Canada needs standardized data on violence on transit systems to help tackle issues ranging from a lack of mental health supports to eroding public trust, say researchers, citing the recent stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy at a Toronto station as the latest example of random attacks on commuters.
Ontario's minimum wage is set to rise to $16.55 an hour on Oct. 1.
Four of the Vancouver police officers involved in the violent 2015 arrest of Myles Gray – which ended with the 33-year-old dying in handcuffs – claim they were directed by their union not to keep notes about what happened, in violation of department policy.
A proposed class-action lawsuit over infamous brainwashing experiments at a Montreal psychiatric hospital was before Quebec's highest court Thursday, as victims attempted to remove immunity granted to the United States government.
The federal government now expects far more Canadians with long-overdue dental needs to sign up for its insurance plan, and the health minister says that's why the estimated cost has risen by $7 billion.
Thirty-six bodies have been found inside a well at a Hindu temple in central India after dozens of people attending a festival fell into the muddy water when its cover collapsed, officials said Friday.
A Philippine coast guard commander said Friday that the tragic scenes of death his team saw aboard a gutted ferry, including bodies of adults clutching children, had moved them to tears and sparked fears other passengers could be found dead in the still-smouldering ship.
Several members of the 16-man crew on a Liberia-flagged tanker are being held hostage by pirates who boarded the ship in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea last week, the Danish shipper that owns the vessel said Friday.
Pope Francis is expected to be discharged on Saturday from the Rome hospital where he is being treated for bronchitis as his recovery proceeds in a 'normal' way, even had pizza for dinner and will be in St. Peter's Square for Palm Sunday Mass, the Vatican said.
The Vatican on Thursday responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the 'Doctrine of Discovery,' the theories backed by 15th-century 'papal bulls' that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property law today.
Two U.S. citizens have been kidnapped in Haiti, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel confirmed on Thursday, adding that Washington is in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them.
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
Gun policy comments made by then-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in a contentious call to Nova Scotia RCMP officers after the mass shooting in 2020 did not amount to political interference, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) final report concludes.
Rogers Communications Inc's $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. cleared the last regulatory hurdle Friday, more than two years after the deal was first announced.
The federal government now expects far more Canadians with long-overdue dental needs to sign up for its insurance plan, and the health minister says that's why the estimated cost has risen by $7 billion.
The B.C. government's bid to restrict the sale of diabetes drug Ozempic to prevent non-Canadian residents draining supplies was the right move and a long time coming, says Brett Skinner, founder and CEO of the Canadian Health Policy Institute.
When the doors close at night at the administration office at Yukon's Carcross Tagish First Nation, a van hits the road and drives through the communities to offer naloxone to reverse overdoses, drug testing kits, food and even a friendly face to help those struggling because of the opioid crisis.
New research suggests the classic image of a Tyrannosaurus rex with massive, sharp teeth might be wrong. A study in the journal Science suggests the teeth on a T. rex was likely covered by scaly lips and didn't stick out when its mouth was closed.
An ultramassive black hole, understood to be one of the largest ever detected, has been discovered by astronomers using a new technique.
When it comes to election misinformation on social media, Facebook takes the cake, according to a new study which found heavy Facebook users were far more likely to consume fake news than Twitter or other social media sites.
Jennifer Aniston is reportedly reflecting on 'Friends' now feeling out of step with the times.
This week, pop culture critic Richard Crouse reviews new movies: 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,' 'Spinning Gold,' 'Tetris' and 'Space Oddity'
Ryan Reynolds spent the day in Ottawa as he continues his efforts to buy the Senators, meeting with officials from the city of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission and attending the Senators game.
Rogers Communications Inc's $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. cleared the last regulatory hurdle Friday, more than two years after the deal was first announced.
Ontario's minimum wage is set to rise to $16.55 an hour on Oct. 1.
Wall Street inched higher ahead of an inflation update Friday that could influence the Federal Reserve and its decision on interest rates at its next meeting.
In a glittering splash of luxury fashion, Dior transformed Mumbai's grand, historic Gateway of India monument into a runway laden with celebrity, beauty and craftsmanship.
On March 30, 1923, exactly 100 years ago, the world's first continuous passenger cruise ship arrived back in New York City after completing a 130-day voyage.
A new type of boat tour is gaining popularity for its sustainable approaches to cruises and destination is the goal mentality.
Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete at Wimbledon as neutral athletes after the All England Club on Friday reversed its ban from last year.
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, still believe he is lying about their daughter's killing and opposed the former Olympic runner's application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
Marcus Stroman committed baseball's first regular-season pitch-clock violation in the third inning of the Chicago Cubs' 4-0 victory over Milwaukee on Thursday on opening day.
Red Bull principal Christian Horner has criticized the stricter interpretation of a rule that bans Formula One team employees from climbing pit wall for victory celebrations.
For nearly a year, the average used vehicle in the United States had been edging toward affordable again for millions of people. Now, with the supply of used vehicles failing to keep up with robust demand, prices are creeping up again, with signs pointing to further increases ahead.
Closing out a half century of purely gasoline-powered V12 cars going back to the brand's earliest models, Luxury Italian sports car designer Lamborghini has unveiled its first supercar with a charging port.
