The future of the Liberal government’s bill, which aims to protect critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks and allow Ottawa to ban partnerships with telecommunications providers it deems risky vendors, including Huawei, is under consideration. The Senate has been called into question after discovering what one senator called a “drafting error.” . ”
Bill C-26, first introduced in 2022, has two key parts. The first section would amend the Telecommunications Act to give the federal government “clear and explicit legal authority” to prohibit Canadian telecommunications companies from using products and services from “high-risk suppliers.” .
Citing national security concerns, the government will use these powers to ban Canada’s next-generation mobile networks from using products and services from two Chinese state-owned telecommunications companies, Huawei and ZTE. Announced at the time.
The second part of Bill C-26 introduces the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act. The move would force companies in critical federally regulated sectors such as finance, telecommunications, energy and transportation to harden their cyber systems against attacks or face steep fines.
The bill has been slow to pass Congress so far and appears to have hit new hurdles.
Senators were poised to review the proposed bill point by point on Monday. When the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, independent Sen. John McNair, said he had been warned that there were “drafting errors” that “could have a material impact” on the bill, they suspended its review.
The Senate National Security Committee then moved into camera to discuss.
Renumbering issues
Sources familiar with the file said that unless the bill is amended, one of the bill’s key objectives – introducing new cybersecurity measures – would be defeated.
That’s because when the government drafted Foreign Interference Bill C-70, it made significant changes to the Canadian Evidence Act. The Foreign Interference Act was intended to repeal and replace a small section of Bill C-26, which also dealt with the Canadian Evidence Act.
But the people, who spoke on condition of not being named because they are not authorized to speak publicly, told CBC News that the C-26 provisions had been renumbered without anyone noticing until now. .
Because the section numbers no longer match, the Foreign Interference Act, which was quickly passed through Parliament this spring, would actually repeal the second half of Bill C-26, the cyber security part, in its entirety.
It’s not clear what the next step will be. A Senate committee will meet early next week to discuss the cybersecurity bill.
If senators feel the bill needs to be amended, they would have to send it back to the House, delaying the already delayed bill when the House is deadlocked.
Matt Malone, a Balsillie researcher at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, said the drafting issues reflected wider problems with Bill C-26.
“There is too much room for government overreach, especially in some of its broad and vague language,” he said.
“The main flaw in Bill C-26 is the need for greater oversight through new command and intelligence powers granted to the government.”
Ottawa needs new law to enforce Huawei ban
Beyond the need to harden critical systems against attacks, there are concerns about how delays in passing the C-26 will affect Canada’s use of technology from Huawei and other companies that have received warnings from the federal government. There are also concerns, sources said.
The government announced its intention to ban the use of Huawei and ZTE products and services more than two years ago, and Bill C-26 gives the government legal powers to do so.
In the federal government’s own words, Ottawa is just in a situation. “Position to apply these new order-determining powers” After the Act received Royal Assent and became law.
Ottawa initially asked Canadian companies to remove or retire 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE by June 2024. It also set a deadline of December 2027 for companies to remove existing 4G equipment provided by two Chinese companies.
The federal government reached out to major carriers this summer for updated information, according to people familiar with the file.
According to the person, all major companies except Telus have responded.
CBC News also contacted the three major carriers to see if they had removed their existing 5G Huawei equipment by the June deadline.
A Rogers spokesperson said the company is partnering with Ericsson to launch a standalone 5G network and is not affected by the Huawei ban.
Bell also said the company is not using Huawei in its 5G network.
Terrace did not directly respond to CBC’s questions.
The company initially planned to use Huawei’s technology to roll out its 5G network. Telus later announced partnerships with Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung to build its 5G network.
“We continue to comply with current Canadian regulations, laws and cybersecurity requirements,” Telus spokesperson Richard Gilhooley said in an email.
What are the concerns about 5G?
New 5G networks promise to give people faster online connections and the greater data capacity needed to get more people and things online. Unlike previous generations, the technology behind 5G networks relies on multiple antennas to move signals and quickly bounce them between locations.
Critics say Huawei’s participation in 5G networks both in Canada and its allies will allow the company to control when, where and how Canadians use internet-connected devices. We’ve been warning for years that we could end up finding out internally. Many have warned that the Chinese government could force the company to hand over that information.
China’s National Intelligence Law stipulates that Chinese organizations and citizens must support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence activities.
Huawei has long maintained that it is an independent company that does not spy for the Chinese government.
