Mendicino, RCMP will face committee over contracts to firm now tied to China
Global News
The news that federal civil servants granted an RCMP contract to a company with ties to the Chinese government is 'disconcerting,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is slated to testify before a parliamentary committee on Monday about federal contracts awarded to a firm that has ties to the Chinese government — a revelation that came amid increased concerns about foreign interference last month.
Last month, reports emerged that Ontario-based Sinclair Technologies had been given 24 contracts since 2009, including work for the Department of Defence, the RCMP and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Three of the 24 contracts have been awarded to the company since 2017, when Hytera Communications bought Sinclair’s parent company.
The Chinese government owns about 10 per cent of Hytera through an investment fund, Radio-Canada first reported on Dec. 7. Hytera is also blacklisted by the United States Federal Communications Commission over national security concerns.
Yet in 2021, the company was granted a $549,637 RCMP contract for a radio frequency filtering system — one that is valid until March 31, 2024.
Now Mendicino is poised to spend an hour facing questions from members of Parliament about the contracts. He will appear before the House of Commons industry committee alongside two senior RCMP officials at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Global News will carry the meeting live here.
The news that federal civil servants granted an RCMP contract to a company with ties to the Chinese government is “disconcerting,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Montreal last month.