With Revelation Border Agency Uses Chinese Radios, Mendicino Says Department-Wide Review Ongoing

Marco Mendicino rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Sept. 26, 2022. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

As well as the RCMP, Canada’s border security agency has now been found to be using radio equipment from a Chinese company and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says he has ordered his department to review all such contracts.

“I have instructed my department to do a portfolio-wide scan and review of any other potential similar contracts which may have been awarded, so that we can take whatever steps are necessary to mitigate against any risks that may exist,” Mendicino said on Dec. 19, according to CBC News.

Mendicino was reacting to reporting from the public broadcaster that detailed how the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has been using radios made by Chinese telecommunications company Hytera for the past five and a half years.

Hytera has been indicted for espionage in the U.S. and banned from selling its equipment over national security risks.

CBC had previously found that a Hytera subsidiary based in Ontario, Sinclair Technologies, was providing radio frequency filters to the RCMP.

The federal government announced the contract was suspended after the news broke.

The Epoch Times subsequently reported that Sinclair also provided other telecommunications equipment over the years to the RCMP such as wireless antennas.

Mendicino’s portfolio covers both the RCMP and CBSA. Other security agencies under him include Correctional Service Canada and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

The CBSA contract for radio equipment was not directly with Hytera, but with another Ontario-based company called Canquest Communications who acted as a re-seller.

A 2017 press release from Hytera provides details on the contract awarded to Canquest. It says it entails the “supply of two-way radio airtime services and communication equipment on the Niagara Frontier for all of CBSA’s port and field operations.”

The networks were built by Canquest and Hytera Canada. “Hytera’s Tier III Pro design architecture is well suited for wide area Public Safety service.”

The value of the 2017 contract with CBSA was $2,983,000 and two other contracts were signed in 2022, one valued at $178,397 and the other at $338,000.

CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy told The Epoch Times the agency decided to phase out the Canquest system and services in 2021, but due to technical issues it had to extend the contract for the Peace Bridge point of entry in Fort Erie.

Purdy said the full transition is expected to occur in March 2023.

She said formal processes to assess risks pertaining to the equipment at the Peace Bridge have found no issues. “There have been no known security breaches associated with CBSA’s user services and equipment under the CANQUEST contract.”

The Epoch Times contacted Public Safety, Hytera, and Canquest for comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.

Editor’s note: The article was updated with comments from CBSA.