Champagne Mum on When Guidelines to Curb Research With Foreign Defence Entities Will Be Released

A pedestrian talks on the phone while walking past a Huawei Technologies Co. store in Beijing, China, on Jan. 29, 2019. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne won’t say when he will release guidelines on reining in research partnerships with foreign entities that pose a national security risk, such as the Chinese military and its affiliated companies like Huawei.

During his testimony before the House of Commons science committee on Nov. 20, the minister faced persistent questioning from MPs, including Liberal Valerie Bradford, regarding the specific timeline for the implementation of the measure.

Bloc Québécois MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas pointed out that “in February, you announced that you would be coming out with guidelines and you have a plan. Normally in plans, there’s a kind of deadlines and dates. What you’re telling us now is there is no date in your plan.”

Mr. Champagne replied that guidelines will be delivered “very soon.”

On Feb. 14, Mr. Champagne announced plans to forbid the allocation of grants to Canadian universities or institutions involved in research collaborations in sensitive areas while working with foreign military, defence, or state security entities that pose a risk to Canadian national security. He had also pledged to impose additional requirements to boost research security in Canada during a science committee meeting on Feb. 2.

The announcements came after the Globe and Mail reported in January that some 50 Canadian universities had been engaged in research partnership with a Chinese military scientific institution, the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT). Their collaborations included studies on high-end and sensitive technologies such as guided missiles and eavesdropping. NUDT was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2015 due to national security concerns.

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Mr. Champagne’s announcements in February marked the latest effort from the Liberal government to address security threats to Canadian research. In 2021, the government introduced the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships, in which a list of research fields have been labelled as sensitive, including artificial intelligence, advanced weapons, biotechnology, quantum science, and others.

According to Mr. Champagne, a total of 1,743 grant applications have been submitted between July 2021 and March 2023. Under the 2021 guideline, of these applications 36 were rejected due to national security risks, and 210 were rejected for administrative reasons related to the guidelines.

Huawei

The Standing Committee on Science and Research has been holding a series of meetings to examine the use of federal grants by Canadian universities and research institutions in partnerships with entities associated with the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Liberation Army. Companies, including Chinese telecom giant Huawei, have come under scrutiny for their close relationship with the Chinese military.

However, Mr. Champagne said he has been adopting “a country and company agnostic approach” in developing measures to scrutinize and prohibit sensitive research collaborations. Meanwhile, he criticized his fellow MPs for “focusing on one country,” without specifying which nation he was referring to.

“Threats can come from everywhere at any time,” he said.

Notably, the science committee heard testimony from another witness in October indicating that despite the 2021 government guideline, numerous Canadian universities continue to maintain collaborations with Huawei.

Conservative MPs Michael Cooper and Rick Perkins have raised concerns about the lack of government directives on prohibiting research conducted with Chinese companies like Huawei.

“If this is such a priority for you and your government, why is it that weeks ago we learned that there had been new patent applications published listed Huawei as an owner with Canadian university researchers as inventors?” Mr. Cooper asked.

“In other words, Canadian universities are still very actively in collaboration with the likes of Huawei, despite the fact that 5G is identified as one of the five areas of sensitive research.”

In response, Mr. Champagne highlighted the government’s ban on Huawei from taking part in building Canada’s 5G network in 2022.

“What I can tell you is, since June 2021 there’s been no federal grant to Huawei,” he said.

NDP MP Richard Cannings further voiced concerns about the lack of action to stop funding from foreign entities going to Canadian institutions, as opposed to those institutions receiving funding from three Canadian government research agencies, known as the “Tri-Councils.” The agencies are the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

“A more serious concern from Canadians would be—the fact is that most research in Canada is not funded by Tri-Councils,” he said. “There’s a considerable concern that that research in many cases is funded by outside sources, in some cases by other countries.”