Feds ban Chinese surveillance firm after years of using its equipment
The Liberal government has quietly banned Chinese video surveillance and telecommunications equipment maker Hikvision from operating in Canada, citing national security concerns.
You know what they say—better late than never. But in the case of the Liberal government finally banning Chinese-made Hikvision surveillance cameras, it’s hard not to ask: how many of these things are still plugged in, blinking, and beaming data who knows where?
After being forced—yes, forced—to admit through a written order paper question over a year ago that multiple federal departments were using cameras made by a company tied to the Chinese Communist Party, the government has now, a full year later, in the most passive-aggressive fashion possible, banned them.
On a Friday. Of a long weekend. In Ottawa. When most bureaucrats won’t be back until Wednesday.
Sounds like they really wanted that news to land with a bang, right?
The CBC, the Mint, the Bank of Canada, RCMP, Transport Canada—all once used Hikvision gear. But the list also includes Agriculture Canada, Parks Canada, ESDC, Infrastructure Canada, and yes, even the military police complaints commission.
The Privy Council Office, which you'd think would know better, didn’t replace theirs until April 16 of last year.
Some departments said at the time, “we don’t know” if they’re using them. Others, like Health Canada and the Public Health Agency, played bureaucratic ping pong with Public Services and Procurement Canada over who’s responsible.
Meanwhile, CSIS won’t say a word. That's not suspicious at all.
All this, after we went through the national theatrics of a foreign interference commission, which focused largely on Chinese manipulation of Canadian politics.
And now, with the cameras likely watching as they scramble to unplug them, the Liberals hope the public forgets.
But we won’t. Because here’s the question: How many are still operating? How many have recorded data we can’t recover? And how does a government that lectures us on national security let CCP-linked hardware run wild through its offices for years?
This wasn’t incompetence. It was willful ignorance—at best. At worst, it was complicity.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.
Featured Stories
54:01
COMMENTS
-
Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2025-07-02 22:27:49 -0400China spying on us? Say it ain’t so.
We have PET to thank for this. During that FLQ business in 1970, he slipped in a joker under the deck by giving official recognition to the PRC. Nearly a decade later, we had Chinese academics studying at our universities.
Now it seems that the Chicoms own the post-secondary system. While I was finishing my last degree, I estimated that at least a quarter of the grad students were from the PRC. Many of them now have faculty positions. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2025-07-02 20:52:45 -0400What other kinds of spy equipment is our government using? Pierre Poilievre needs to keep hammering the Liberals on their pro-China moves. And all procurements must be from countries other than that communist land.
