The News Rundown

Canada banning Chinese telecom giant Huawei, ZTE from 5G networks

Canada will be banning Huawei and ZTE from our country’s 5G wireless networks.
Huawei has been a topic here at Western Context since episode 97 back in 2018 when the CSIS director warned that state sponsored espionage was a risk to our 5G networks.
Huawei of course all played a huge role when Canada honoured an extradition treaty with the US and arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou which spurred China to then kidnap two Canadians in China, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Their ordeal ended with their return to Canada last year.
Going forward telecom companies will not be permitted to include any products or services from Huawei or ZTE in their networks. If they have already installed it, they will be required to stop using it and remove it.
The Canadian telecom industry must:
Cease procurement of new 4G or 5G equipment and services from Huawei and ZTE by September 2022;
Terminate the use of any new or existing 5G equipment and services from Huawei and ZTE by June 2024; and
End the use of any new or existing 4G equipment and services from Huawei and ZTE by December 2027.
The government will be tabling legislation in the “very short term” that will not only address Huawei but strengthen the telecommunication system against national security risks.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said, “This new legislation will establish a framework to better protect the systems vital to our national security and give the government a new tool to respond to emerging cyber threats.”
The policy statement on Securing Canada’s Telecommunications System lays out 14 points but here are some of the most interesting:
“The Government of Canada has serious concerns about suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE who could be compelled to comply with extrajudicial directions from foreign governments in ways that would conflict with Canadian laws or would be detrimental to Canadian interests.”
“Canada’s closest allies share the similar concerns about these two suppliers. Given the potential cascading economic and security impacts a telecommunications supply chain breach could cause, allies have taken actions to enable them to prohibit the deployment of Huawei and ZTE products and services in their 5G telecommunications networks.”
“Like our allies, Canada believes that evolving international supply chain dynamics have further implications due to growing restrictions on access to certain components. Shifts from well-known inputs to others have implications for Canada’s ability to conduct assurance testing. This changing supply chain environment toward other components will make it increasingly difficult for Canada to maintain a high level of assurance testing for certain network equipment from a number of potential suppliers.”
Presently when we think of 5G we think of devices as simple as our cell phones and mobile tablets. But, 5G infrastructure has the power to extend connectivity to many more classes of devices like smart home appliances, electric cars, and neighbourhood 5G modems that broadcast a WiFi signal.
5G is going to balloon and become bigger than any other form of connectivity that we’ve seen in the past and 5G will enable a new breadth of connectivity that we haven’t seen before.
5G, Huawei, ZTE, and to a larger extent China has been the largest geopolitical threat that people are not aware of up until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
We have to accept that Russia’s actions in Ukraine pose problems for the short and medium term but China’s actions are something we need to be on the lookout for going forward into the future 5, 10, 50, and 100 years.
The reason being? That’s how the Chinese communist party operates.
China likely knew this decision was coming and opened up its markets to Canadian canola after they closed their borders to the product while the debacle involving Meng Wanzhou and the two Michael’s was playing out.
The initial blockade of Canadian canola was put in place due to China feeling there were unwelcome pests in the crop.
China’s also been steadily increasing purchases of Russian oil at low prices. The oil will be turned into petrochemical products and then sold to the rest of southeast Asia or sold back to us in the west in the form of plastics.
Most of the world has seen a unified response against Russia given their invasion of Ukraine but China here is still supporting the Russian regime.
It’s examples like this, the canola import, and the detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in concert with the fact that we know Chinese operatives through the People’s Liberation Army have been operating in Canada trying to influence the Chinese diaspora and government policy that show why taking care of our own national security through 5G is very important.
Turning to the local politics here in Canada, the Conservatives said the move took too long and could end up costing Canadians money.
"Either the Liberal government is going to be asked for compensation from these companies, or costs will be passed on to consumers. In either case, Justin Trudeau is forcing Canadians to bear the cost of his inaction and failure.” - This was said in a statement from public safety critic MP Raquel Dancho and industry critic MP Gerard Deltell.
The NDP also said that the move took too long and wanted an explanation of why it took so long.
The official explanation from analysts is that it was due to China’s kidnapping of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor but they arrived home in September 2021.
There’s also the prospect that China could retaliate with trade sanctions or in the worst case, kidnap more Canadians.
The government has not issued a travel advisory to China.
Supplementals:

Friday is known as the day for governments to release news they may think will be unfavourable to the public, or news that may cause backlash. This is because they can use the weekend to either bury the news, come up with a plan to stem narratives, as well as not having to face scrutiny in their respective parliaments or legislatures until Monday.
This past Friday, the BC government revealed that it plans to spend $789 million to replace the Royal BC Museum with a brand new museum that it claims will be state-of-the-art and seismically safe. The new museum building is slated to open in 2030 and will remain at the same location in downtown Victoria, across the street from the B.C. Legislature.
As part of the plan, the existing Royal BC Museum will close on Sept. 6. The Imax Victoria theatre, as well as the museum’s gift shop and the food trucks located at the museum, will remain open until sometime in early 2023. Once the museum completely closes, some exhibits will go on the road until the new facility reopens, 7 years later.
The provincial government claims the new museum will bring significant economic and social benefits to the region, supporting more than 3000 jobs in the process. Though there are no renderings of the new museum, it will feature mass timber construction and will be designed to achieve maximum energy efficiency.
Premier John Horgan said during Friday’s announcement which was held at the Royal BC Museum that: “For decades, people from British Columbia and around the globe have come to the Royal BC Museum to learn about our special corner of the world. For just as long, the stories told here have failed to accurately reflect our colonial history or include everyone, and priceless collections are now being put at risk in an aging building. That’s why today, we are making this historic investment to build a safer, more inclusive and accessible modern building. Once complete, the new museum will be a flagship destination for tourism and a place where generations to come will learn about the richness and diversity of BC’s history. It will be a place where generations of British Columbians will learn more about the extraordinary history of this province. We are going to be putting practical pieces of British Columbia into the walls, the floors and the ceilings of the building.”
The Royal BC Museum has experienced turbulence in recent months, with staff members coming forward with allegations of racism, the CEO resigning, and the closure of the third-floor gallery.
Royal BC Museum CEO Alicia Dubois, who was on hand for Friday’s announcement, was brought on as the new CEO to help “modernize” the museum, and former NDP MLA and Finance Minister, Carole James, was appointed to the museum board to help fix the culture at the museum.
Horgan said the time has come for the Royal BC Museum to be “brought into the 21st century” and tell the province’s story: “Obviously, the impacts of colonizations are there for all of us to see. Precolonization, before the expansion of Europe, we had a rich, rich culture and tradition with hundreds of [First Nations] spanning thousands of years. Those stories can, should and will be told in this institution,” he said, adding. “If we are going to tell our story, we have to ensure that everyone is included in that story.”
The announcement to spend almost $800m to completely replace the museum, as well taking it out of commission for most of the next decade, was met with skepticism, dismay and anger. Regular listeners will recall back to Western Context 243 when we first outlined the museum's plans to close the entire 3rd floor of the museum, which at that time housed an extensive First Nations exhibit, as well as the 'Old Town' exhibit, which focused on the original European settlement of Victoria and the region. At that time, there was massive public backlash, with many people recounting favourite parts of the exhibits of the Royal BC Museum, which has long been regarded among the best museums in Canada.
Since that original announcement, the narrative shifted quickly from decolonization efforts to the perceived necessity of replacing the exhibits because of 'old construction materials' like asbestos that may be in the walls as they renovated the 3rd floor. Now we are being told that the entire museum needs to be replaced as it's at the end of its useful lifespan.
Since the announcement, Horgan has been under heavy fire from the Opposition BC Liberals and the public about the timing and need for a new facility. The province is facing a crisis in health care with a family-doctor shortage, the ongoing opioid crisis, an affordability crunch in housing, rising gas and food prices to record levels, as well as many schools across the province requiring seismic work. It's no wonder that the public are outraged at such a huge price tag to replace the museum.
The BC Liberals, with their new leader Kevin Falcon just sworn into the Legislature as the new MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, were quick to seize the opportunity of public opinion, and promised to stop the rebuild.
Falcon said: “At a time when British Columbians are struggling, the highest housing prices, the highest gas prices, the premier thinks this is the right time for a vanity museum project. Nowhere in the budget can I see any capital spending. Nowhere can I see a budget plan.”
The plan, nor a full business plan, has been presented to the public. Horgan originally said that the business plan would be released this week. Then it was on Monday, now as of recording it is said to be released next Wednesday. One has to wonder about the reasons for the continued delays.
Falcon said: “The timing of this announcement is unbelievable. The NDP could renovate the museum to be seismically safe at a much lower cost, while still ensuring adequate resources for conservation and Indigenous repatriation efforts to ensure the museum reflects the full history of British Columbia.”
Some business and community leaders were surprised that the existing institution is closing in September and the replacement won’t be ready for eight years. Horgan never mentioned that the tourism sector and the downtown business district would have to make do without any museum for that entire length of time. When you factor in the closures of the past few years, that leads to about a full decade without a museum in the core downtown region.
Bruce Williams, CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, said “The length of closure was something that wasn’t made clear to everybody. We heard that it would be three to five years. The museum is one of the keystones to people visiting the region.”
When asked about tourism impacts, Horgan conceded that: “Tourism will be stifled for a period, but expanding to a level that we’ve not seen before, bringing more and more people to BC.” 'Stifled for a period', means a major impact on Victoria's downtown, as the government says almost 900,000 people visit the museum every year. Over the length of the project, that means about 7.2 million less visitors in a city built heavily on tourism still recovering from the dark times of the past few years.
Horgan says he has profound regret that plans for a new Royal B.C. Museum have landed with such a thud and understands the enormous pressures record-high gas prices and inflation are putting on B.C. residents. He said: “I very much regret that the jewel of our collective history, the Royal B.C. Museum, has become a political football. It certainly was not our intention to appear to be tone deaf to the challenges British Columbians are facing.”
Horgan said he understands the stress affordability issues are placing on family budgets. While it may seem like the announcement came out of the blue, in reality the Royal B.C. Museum “has been in a difficult position for coming on two decades” with proposals for its modernization reviewed for the past five years. Despite this, Horgan said that he doesn't believe that the public 'has had a chance to fully understand how we got here' and 'doesn't yet understand the reasons' for the replacement project.
The follow-up has led the BC NDP to appear even more out of touch, as Horgan insists the public doesn't know or understand why the museum needs to be replaced, yet we were told 3 different changing reasons over the past half year, then when an announcement happens, we still do not receive a full business plan or specific details on the project. It's baffling, given the backlash to the initial closing of the 3rd floor of the museum, that the NDP thought that an announcement about replacing the entire museum with few details would go over well. And if Horgan truly does regret that the announcement has failed, then he only has himself to blame.
Supplementals:

A lament for conservatism

Jason Kenney will be resigning as UCP leader once a new leader is chosen.
We don’t have details on the leadership race yet but it is to begin with people like Danielle Smith and Brian Jean already in the race.
We’re at this point because 51.4% of the UCP membership that voted approved of Jason Kenney’s leadership.
While this was technically enough the path forward to continue governing is difficult.
The mainstream media nationally have been quick to paint this as a repudiation of Jason Kenney’s policies but many of the core UCP policies enacted from recall legislation to citizen referenda to improved school choice have been the bedrock of Alberta grassroots conservatism for years.
Very few journalists nationally get what happened here in the province and is going to be happening going forward.
The Alberta reporters understand slightly better but still may be slightly off in the case of Jason Kenney.
Alberta has a political history of throwing parties out and throwing leaders out. Put simply, if it’s time for a leader to go, Albertans will tell them to go in one way or another if they haven’t already left.
This is part of western Canadian grassroots conservatism too and influenced the departure of Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole nationally.
The best summation of what has happened comes from the online news outlet, The Hub, which aims to promote “insights, analysis, and debate about a dynamic and better future for Canada.”
In the article, Sean Speer, The Hub’s Editor-at-Large points out what few have: “There’s a small yet spirited minority of grassroot conservatives who’ve come to define their politics in solely oppositional terms. It derives from a position of perceived weakness in modern society. They see mainstream institutions (including corporations, universities, and the media) succumbing to an assertive form of progressivism and feel increasingly embattled in a culture that at times can be quite hostile to their ideas and values. These feelings of powerlessness, marginalization, and condescension are reinforced by online sources and American conservative media.”
He points out that it results in a siege mentality that is more reactionary than conservative and this movement is not interested in incremental policy reforms.
This all of course has been exacerbated by the dark times of the pandemic as we have pointed out before on the podcast and appeared in the piece on The Hub.
Simply, no one understands what is brewing in Canada. There was the “Freedom Convoy” and now Pierre Poilievre is drawing crowds of these same people who are angry at our institutions.
Many thought that we as a country escaped the populist waves seen in UK-Brexit and Donald Trump’s America but there is a very real possibility that it is here.
And if we’re right, that it is here, anyone who ignores it puts our country at ever increasing peril.
These voices have of course been amplified by independent online news sources and American media which is another line of convergence of what we have been saying here at Western Context and what The Hub points out.
We saw the duality of watching Edmonton and Calgary want more COVID restrictions while the rural parts of the provinces wanted none of it. This has only pushed parts of Alberta further apart making it perhaps one of the most divided places on the continent.
In covering the revolving door of COVID restrictions and the Restriction Exemption Program we could see the cracks were there and they burst open after being amplified online and in the media.
Though at the end of the day, the grievances are legitimate but as with anything too much of any single thing is bad and there’s a real possibility for the movement to go in this direction.
Going in that direction would look like a full embrace that our leaders are being directed by Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum to enact some Great Reset (which itself is an idea that was proposed and is real but world leaders are not on the payroll to have it enacted), that COVID as a virus is being used as a population control method, or that our leaders can be simply replaced as has circulated around in January and February.
These conspiracy theories or even the idea that there might be some crazy idea out there have the potential to turn away mainstream voters if embraced by a party like the UCP, who are critical to win seats in Edmonton and Calgary.
There’s a real possibility that the people who were largely responsible for Kenney’s approval rating within the UCP believe some portion of these conspiracy theories.
There’s any number of these conspiracy theories out there and Brian Jean has already tapped into them while running for his seat as MLA in the Fort McMurray by-election.
The embrace of such conspiracy theories is only going to push moderate voters away from the UCP and the most extreme elements of this group will have handed the Premiership back to Rachel Notley next year.
If you believe that Kenney or any of our leaders are on the direct payroll from the likes of Klaus Schwab or that COVID-19 was engineered as a population control measure, this podcast is not for you, stop listening now.
This is going to be the most important leadership election in Alberta history as the leader of the UCP will become Premier and that person has to have the focus of making the party and its conservative policy the most relevant it can be to ordinary working people.
Ordinary workers that are suffering from inflation, that are dealing with a changing economy and world, and people who may want more autonomy from the federal government in Ottawa no matter the colour of it.
This needs to be the focus and it needs to be driven by the grassroots of the party and everyone in Alberta must hope that it is this portion of the base that speaks up loudly to ensure that the UCP does not make itself ungovernable in 2023 by a majority of the population.
Supplementals:

Firing Line

The danger Pierre Poilievre’s corrosive campaign poses to Canada

This past week has shown the level of attacks that Pierre Poilievre will face if the presumed frontrunner in the Conservative leadership election does end up winning. These attacks are not just from political opponents in the race or even the governing Trudeau Liberals though, no, they are from the media establishment itself.
Yes, the media has been out for blood this week, decrying Poilievre's policies, his campaign style, and even his efforts to modernize the Conservative movement by focusing on large rallies, social media movements, and clear language that directly says what he wants to do when he becomes Prime Minister.
It started last weekend with former Progressive-Conservative Prime Minister Kim Campbell, who served for just over 4 months before the party got relegated from 156 seats to just 2. While former PM Brian Mulroney's waning popularity could be considered the major reason for the resounding PC election defeat, Campbell could not right the ship, and a series of negative attack ads focusing on then Liberal leader Jean Chretien was perceived by many as a focus on Chrétien's facial deformity, caused by Bell's palsy.
Campbell, by any regards, should not be considered an authority on the modern Conservative movement, given the massive failures she presided over as the leader of the Progressive Conservatives. Nevertheless, CTV turned to her as an expert on conservatism to hear her opinions on the Conservatives picking a new leader.
Campbell says without leadership on policies such as climate change, the party’s identity will remain in question: “I'm sorry, if you're not worried about climate change, and you're not worried about resurgent authoritarianism, and you're not a champion of the rights of women to make the contributions they need to make in society, I’m not interested. Canada has got to be part of the solution to climate change and the fact that there could be any party that drags its feet is just so depressing.”
The former leader also weighed in on Pierre Poilievre’s attacks on the Bank of Canada, and specifically comments that Governor Tiff Macklem should be fired for failing to manage soaring inflation, with a fairly bizarre statement: “Yeah, he should have predicted you know, the disruptions of the COVID supply chains and the war in Ukraine, right? Yeah. Get rid of the dude, he's not consulting his tarot cards. Grow up,” she said.
And on the independence of the Canada’s central bank, she said “when people are appointed to hold independent positions you need to suck it up and respect that unless there is clear evidence that what they are doing is either incompetent or done in bad faith or dangerous.”
Given the Bank of Canada's mandate is to manage inflation, and that Canada is now experiencing record inflation, it could be argued that Macklem is indeed incompetent, and his leadership is dangerous to Canadians, especially given his comments last year that inflation was just "transitory" and would not be here to stay.
Gary Mason of the Globe and Mail headlined an article with "The danger Pierre Poilievre’s corrosive campaign poses to Canada", and in it he says that "The Ottawa-area MP didn’t organize the protest in Peterborough, but his campaign to become Tory leader has legitimized the anger that was on display there. In many ways, it’s also his anger, and it reflects the contempt he holds for the Prime Minister. He has given these people reason to believe Mr. Trudeau is one of the most despicable people in this country. He’s done this by running one of the most dishonest, contemptible political campaigns ever seen in Canada. Every day he seems to find a new low, accusing the Prime Minister of sinister things that the so-called “freedom convoy” folks lap up like mindless fools."
It's clear that the media establishment dismiss the concerns of regular Canadians, and fail to see the problem with the fact that many of Trudeau's policies have directly hurt them.
And then the latest controversy: Poilievre use of the phrase “Anglo-Saxon words” on Jordan Peterson's podcast has drawn attention from some who consider the term divisive, but the comment is also being defended by supporters who say he was only expressing a preference for clearer language.
Poilievre said: "I'm a believer in using simple Anglo-Saxon words that strike right at the meaning that I'm trying to convey. And so I say things that people say, ‘Yeah, that actually makes sense.’”
Some Conservatives contend Poilievre was referring to more easily understood words in English with Anglo-Saxon origins, compared to “Latinate” words that derive from other languages. Alberta Conservative MP Garnett Genuis tweeted: “Anglo-Saxon words tend to be shorter & sharper than Latinate words. Many writers & speakers know that when considering word choice.”
Some of course have denounced the words, pointing out that the term 'Anglo-Saxon' has been used more recently by those on the far-right to differentiate white people from immigrants and people of colour. Fareed Khan, the founder of the organization Canadians United Against Hate: "It's a way to basically set apart those who are white in Canada, who are white Anglo-Saxon, from everyone else and certainly [from] the racialized segment of society.”
Now, the comments could be considered weird, because who uses the term “Anglo-Saxon words” while trying to convey the idea that they speak plainly so that people can understand them? But weird isn’t racist and weird isn’t white supremacy no matter how far some media outlets want to reach.
The conversation between Poilievre and Peterson is fascinating, as two intelligent people go back and forth on a series of policy issues, as Peterson does his best to draw out Poilievre on what motivates him and how he got into politics. They cover a wide range of topics, including the relationship that Poilievre has with much of the media in this country.
That may be what is driving this claim that his use of the term “Anglo-Saxon words” is a racist dog whistle. The media doesn’t like Poilievre and never has. They see him as aggressive, scrappy and angry. Which, funny enough, could actually describe their stance with him because no matter the issue, they are aggressive, scrappy and angry over whatever he says.
CTV was the first, but not the last, to jump on the idea that Poilievre’s use of Anglo-Saxon was code for white Canadian goodness. The people behind that report should actually know better because if you’ve paid attention to Poilievre’s life and campaign, you know that this is ridiculous.
At every campaign stop that they can manage it, Poilievre is introduced by his wife Ana Galindo. If you haven’t met her, she’s a proud Latina whose family fled Venezuela. White supremacists don’t tend to marry Latina women and then put them on stage to introduce them if they’re trying to attract racist voters. All this to say, if Pierre Poilievre is a racist or white supremacist, he’s a very bad one.
Poilievre's comments on economics are drawing criticism too, from his own party. Ed Fast, the Conservative MP from Abbotsford who says he resigned as the Conservatives' finance critic after MPs supporting Pierre Poilievre tried to "muzzle" him from speaking out about monetary policy — particularly on issues such as cryptocurrency and the Bank of Canada.
Fast said: “I’m deeply troubled by suggestions by one of our leadership candidates, that that candidate would be prepared to interfere already at this stage in the independence of our central bank.”
Fast, who is co-chairing Jean Charest's leadership campaign, said he was speaking as the finance critic, and not the co-chair of Poilievre's biggest Conservative political opponent in the leadership race. Sure.
MP Chris Warkentin, one of the co-chairs of Poilievre's Alberta campaign took issue with Fast's allegations: "There is a difference between someone aggressively supporting their preferred candidate versus using his caucus position of trust to attack another campaign. What many of us in caucus really objected to was Ed re-enforcing Liberal talking points about inflation to defend his preferred candidate."
That's the issue: Fast was using his caucus position to personal benefit, which is a no-no. Previous leadership candidates and co-chairs have always resigned upon heading up a campaign, and the fact that Fast didn't before now is odd.
Meanwhile, The Conservative Party of Canada is investigating a complaint lodged by Patrick Brown’s leadership campaign about a racist email it says it received from a member. Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who is helping Brown in the race, shared a screenshot on Twitter of an email that she says the campaign received from an active member of the party.
The text that Rempel Garner shared expresses support for Nazism and includes racist remarks directed at Black and Asian people. The Conservative party confirmed on Twitter that it would investigate the complaint in accordance with rules that govern how and whether one’s membership can be revoked. It says it condemns all forms of racism and takes such allegations seriously.
The text shared by Rempel Garner ends with the author saying they support Pierre Poilievre, an Ottawa-area Conservative MP who is also running in the leadership race.
In response, Poilievre said: “If you are a racist, I don’t want your vote. Anyone promoting racism has no place in our party and should lose their membership.”
On Monday, Poilievre condemned what he called the “ugly racist hatred” behind the deadly attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., where a white gunman killed 10 Black people.
All in all, the attacks on Poilievre have gone from anything based on policy to the absurd. One columnist compared him to French far-right and anti-immigrant politician Marie Le Pen without any merit. The lazy journalists and columnists will simply reach for the Trump reference. In reality, Poilievre is his own person, and has his own ideas on how to improve Canada. People who are skeptical of the media's characterization should listen to what he actually says rather than snippets of what other people say about him.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

“There’s a small yet spirited minority of grassroot conservatives who’ve come to define their politics in solely oppositional terms. It derives from a position of perceived weakness in modern society. They see mainstream institutions (including corporations, universities, and the media) succumbing to an assertive form of progressivism and feel increasingly embattled in a culture that at times can be quite hostile to their ideas and values.” - The Hub, Editor-at-Large Sean Speer

Word of the Week

Dog-Whistle - a subtly aimed political message which is intended for, and can only be understood by a particular group. Comes from the high-pitched whistle used to train dogs, typically having a sound inaudible to humans.

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Show Data

Episode Title: The Angry Whistle

Teaser: Canada bans Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks, BC will spend $800m to replace the Royal BC Museum, and Jason Kenney will resign after a new UCP leader is chosen. Also, the media and Pierre Poilievre go to war.

Recorded Date: May 20, 2022

Release Date: May 22, 2022

Duration: 1:08:01

Edit Notes: None

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX