Saskatchewan following Ottawa’s lead on Huawei relationship: minister

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP has said allegations against Huawei of espionage and security threats could require SaskTel to cut its contract with the company. (File Photo: York Region/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

SASKATOON — Saskatchewan’s justice minister says his government will follow Ottawa’s lead on how to handle the province’s relationship with Chinese communications giant Huawei.

Don Morgan said Crown-owned SaskTel won’t acquire any new technology from Huawei in the meantime.

“We’re going to wait and see and take a direction from the federal government and from Bell and Telus who are our national partners,” he said Tuesday. “We’re not going to go ahead of any of those entities and we’ll look to them for a clear direction.”

The United States has unsealed 13 criminal counts of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction against the company and senior executive Meng Wanzhou, who is being held in Canada and faces possible extradition.

Meng, the company’s chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, is charged in the U.S. with bank fraud, wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit both.

Morgan said the charges leave Saskatchewan in a difficult spot as it has invested more than $200 million into Huawei’s services.

He expressed the province’s concern with federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

“We want to do the best we can for our citizens providing good quality, affordable service and to have something like this where there’s international dynamic, it poses a real challenge for our province,” Morgan said.

Goodale told Morgan it may be months before the federal government is able to give a clear direction.

Ottawa announced last week $40 million for Finnish telecom giant Nokia to conduct research on the fifth generation mobile network in Canada. The funding comes as the federal government reviews Huawei involvement in building that 5G network.

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP has said allegations against Huawei of espionage and security threats could require SaskTel to cut its contract with the company.

Leader Ryan Meili wrote a letter to Premier Scott Moe two weeks ago looking for answers.

“We do see this issue continuing to be of major concern at a national and international level,” Meili said Monday in Regina.

Morgan said the province has a “substantial investment” in the Chinese firm, which helped Saskatchewan build its 4G network. SaskTel also uses Huawei handsets.

The company has provided high-quality services and is very effective, Morgan said.

No malicious coding has been found in Huawei equipment by SaskTel, Morgan said. The province’s contract with the company is due to end later this year.

Daryl Godfrey, SaskTel’s chief technology officer, has said cutting ties with the company, along with removing and replacing equipment, would cost several million dollars. It would also put the province “at a significant competitive disadvantage,” he said.

Morgan said taking a cautious approach and relying on the federal government is the best way to ensure that Saskatchewan is secure.

“We can’t have our businesses or our national security compromised.”