The federal government will stop funding grant applications if the researchers working on them are affiliated with a foreign military, state security entities or certain foreign state actors, citing a need to protect Canadian national security.
Ottawa made the announcement Tuesday evening, and following a report from The Globe and Mail last month that since 2005, 50 Canadian universities have had extensive research collaborations with China’s military. The projects with China’s National University of Defence Technology included areas like quantum cryptography, photonics and space science, the newspaper reported.
Now, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne says protecting Canadian research is a matter of national security and cited “recent events” when asked about the decision.
“It’s the right thing to do. I mean, we’ve seen recent events. There have been reports,” Champagne said without referencing any specific report or event.
“That’s something that Canadians expect from us, to make sure that we take strong measures. This is a strong response to face the reality of today and making sure that research security in this country will have proper framework around it. On one end, we respect the freedom of research, but at the same time, we protect the interest and our national security.”
Champagne and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a press release announcing the decision that federal grants “in a sensitive research area will not be funded if any of the researchers working on the project are affiliated with a university, research institute or laboratory connected to military, national defence or state security entities of foreign state actors that pose a risk Canadian national security.”
While the news release made no mention of a specific state, a spokesperson with Champagne’s office confirmed the policy will include, but not be limited to, institutions and entities in China.
“This enhanced policy will be implemented rapidly and in close consultation with our departments, Canada’s national security agencies and the research community,” the ministers said Tuesday night.
Canadian relations with China have been uneasy for several years, intensifying in recent months over allegations of attempts to influence and interfere in Canadian affairs.
Most recently, a suspected Chinese spy balloon violated Canadian and American airspace, forcing NORAD – the continental defence network – to retool its radar, prompting the shootdowns of three unidentified objects over the U.S. and Canada. It’s still unclear what those objects were, and search efforts for them are ongoing.
China has rejected the claim it was a spy balloon, saying it was an aircraft used for weather purposes.
Regardless, relations with China remain tense and late last year, RCMP charged a former Hydro-Québec employee with allegedly obtaining trade secrets for the Chinese government and alleged the individual conducted research for Chinese universities and filed patents based on the results that undermined Hydro-Quebec intellectual property.
“Canadian universities should be banned from doing research projects in alliance with any foreign dictatorship, including the dictatorship in Beijing,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on Wednesday in response to the news.
He accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being “asleep at the switch” when it comes to dealing with the threat posed by China and other dictatorships, and said a Conservative government would introduce more laws against foreign interference.
Global News reported on Nov. 7, 2022 that Canadian intelligence officials had warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China has allegedly been targeting Canada with a vast campaign of foreign interference, according to Global News sources.
Furthermore, the RCMP has asked anyone with experience of Chinese influence through so-called “police stations” believed to be operating in Canada to come forward.
After Global News’ report broke, Trudeau said the government has “taken significant measures to strengthen the integrity of our elections processes and our systems,” adding that Ottawa will “continue to invest in the fight against election interference, against foreign interference of our democracy and institutions.”
Trudeau also brought up alleged interference in interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 in Bali, Indonesia, late last year. Xi later confronted Trudeau about how it was “not appropriate” that details of those conversations had been shared with news organizations.
Doing so is the norm in Canadian politics.
Late last year, Ottawa released its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy, with Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly calling China an “increasingly disruptive global power” in a region where multiple countries are showing major economic growth.