Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canada must “be vigilant” of foreign actors targeting the country’s technology, pointing to artificial intelligence and intellectual property as potential targets.

McGuinty had been asked by a reporter what the government is doing to protect technology being stolen from competitors like China.

“That’s a very, very big question. The government has seized with this responsibility nowhere more obviously than I think in the field of artificial intelligence where Canada is becoming a major player,” he said.

...

“We’re going to have to be vigilant. We have experience with this issue of the loss of intellectual property over time, for example, of Nortel previously.”

McGuinty added: “The safeguards that we’ve got in place now are significant. Our security and intelligence organizations have more than a watching brief on these kinds of activities,” he said on Thursday, announcing over $20 million in funding towards Canada’s third defence innovation secure hub dedicated to quantum technologies.

Canadian telecom giant Nortel dominated the global fibre optics industry for years before filing for bankruptcy in 2009 and liquidating in 2017.

...

Chinese espionage and hacking has been cited as a critical factor in the company’s demise by former company employees and media reporting.

Chinese hackers are alleged to have had a wide array of access to the former telecommunications giant as far back as 2000, which included downloaded business plans, research and development reports, employee emails, among other documents.

As Nortel Networks declined, Chinese multinational technology corporation Huawei grew to become one of the more dominant telecom equipment makers.

...

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[–] Scotty@scribe.disroot.org 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What are cheap EVs and what do they have to do with the linked article?

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Seemed pretty obvious to me.

Canada makes vehicles and vehicle parts. So does China. Like with Nortel and Huawei, China is able to flood the Canadian market with cheap electric vehicles, effectively killing any domestic industry in the field.

And that’s before we even touch on telematics.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

China is able to flood the Canadian market with cheap electric vehicles, effectively killing any domestic industry in the field.

Canadian and Chinese firms can partner just as easily as Canadian and US firms. The idea that your industry will be "killed" because it integrates with a firm outside your jurisdiction is demonstrably false. Partnering, collaborating, and scaling up production are what all the Pacific Rim industrial states did back in the late-20th century.

Japanese, Korean, and Chinese EVs and cell phones and TVs and yadda-yadda exist because local firms partnered with western technology companies to build capital. And then national brands emerged from these countries that were globally competitive. If Japan had retreated back into Edo Era seclusion after WW2, companies like Sony and Nintendo and Toyota never would have broken ground, much less taken root globally.

Hell, look at the history of the cornerstone of the Taiwanese economy: TSMC. It exists to sell chipsets to Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom, and Qualcomm. Imagine if the Taiwanese had refused to do business with any of these foreign owned companies, for fear of these brands outcompeting Taiwanese domestic hardware.

Canada trying to wall itself off from the rest of the world in the name of economic independence will do far more harm to its economy than any partnership it strikes with global leaders in manufacturing.

[–] Scotty@scribe.disroot.org 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world

The idea that your industry will be “killed” because it integrates with a firm outside your jurisdiction is demonstrably false.

Your comment is misleading and a distraction. It depends with whom you integrate.

It has been demonstrated that China isn't a reliable partner as, amongst others, technology gets stolen. The article is very clear about it.

Mark Carney himself called out China as Canada's 'biggest security threat." He was so right ...

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

This is so much BS. America is reliable?/Even before trump they where not. Example the tariff on softwood for decades. And they don't care and don't pay their fines. Covid times another example. Then there is the China well spy on use well what the fuck we are being spied in right now by American companies even your cars. But I guess if America makes money bits fine cause they are more like us or some stupid bullshit.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It has been demonstrated that China isn’t a reliable partner as, amongst others, technology gets stolen.

That's flatly false. The tech isn't "stolen", even my your own insane US dictated IP standards. It is purchased, in exchange for access to Chinese domestic labor and capital. Straight up contractually agreed to by Western companies.

And then it is iterated on and improved, resulting in products superior to the original at a lower price.

It's this last bit that has American firms terrified. They no longer have a legalist monopoly on mediocre products. Unless, of course, Canadians let them have it

[–] Scotty@scribe.disroot.org 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The article is even citing a very prominent example. Your remarks are just a distraction as always from this account.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

cited as a critical factor in the company’s demise by former company employees and media reporting

Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

And? This is what the west wanted cheap goods at any cost. Arrow must go up infinite growth and all that bullshit.