Pending Cybersecurity Bill Could Leave Canada Vulnerable to Chinese Data Theft: Bloc MP

Bloc MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay rises during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2021. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay is concerned that pending legislation currently being debated in the House of Commons will not sufficiently address certain Canadian cybersecurity issues pertaining to national security, particularly when it comes to potential online Chinese intrusions into Canada’s cybersphere.

If passed, Bill C-26 will require Canadian key enterprises in the banking and telecommunications industries to improve their cybersecurity measures and also to report to police any cyberattacks made against them, regardless of the ransom costs for doing so.

“We have to find a way to put some meat on the bones,” Savard-Tremblay said of Bill C-26 in the House of Commons on Dec. 1.

Savard-Tremblay spoke of China’s digital data collection systems, which he said could be used in the future against Canadian companies in unexpected ways with the use of 5G technology. He cited a number of Chinese companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent, that he believes could pose security risks.

“China has built a formidable digital system,” he said. “There is a reason why it is constantly increasing its data storage. There is no doubt that the issue of cybersecurity is at the centre of the current international economic war that is engulfing an increasingly multipolar world.”

“We need to acknowledge this. We need to act.”

Earlier this year, government banned Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from Canada’s 5G wireless infrastructure, with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino citing national security concerns.

The ban forbids Canadian companies from deploying equipment for their 4G and 5G networks made by either Huawei or ZTE.

“Our government conducted an extensive and thorough security examination of 5G wireless telecommunications technologies, including those service providers who represent a high risk to the integrity of our telecommunications sector,” Mendicino said at a press conference in Ottawa on May 19.

‘Very Real Cyber Threat’

The parliamentary secretary of the Liberal government’s House leader acknowledged that Bill C-26 could cover more ground, but said the legislation is “just one step.”

“There is a very real cyber threat out there,” said Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux in the House on Dec. 1, adding that Bill C-26 “ensures that there can be financial penalties” for cyber crimes.

“Would the member not agree that this is just one step? We have had literally tens of millions of dollars invested in cyber-threats over the years.”

Regardless of Savard-Tremblay’s criticism of the bill, he acknowledged that the Bloc still supports it.

“We are not even sure that this step will be enough, but it is a step in the right direction,” he said.

However, researcher Christopher Parsons at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab wrote a report in October calling Bill C-26 “a bad law” and in need of a number of amendments.

The report recommends the bill be revised to remove secrecy clauses that Parsons said could lead to a lack of government transparency.

Parsons wrote that an “un-amended Bill C-26” could set a precedent for “unaccountable, secretive and repressive ‘security’ legislation.”

“Security can be, and must be, aligned with Canada’s democratic principles,” he wrote. “It is now up to the government to amend its legislation in accordance with them.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.