Ontario is moving to ban the purchase and use of drones by the government and provincial police.
In a press release, the province says it takes issue with Chinese law requiring domestic companies to disclose data even if it’s stored in other countries like Canada. Ontario argues that this raises security concerns about how the province’s data is managed, leading it to take this latest action.
As part of these changes, the province has enacted an immediate ban on Chinese‑made drones in highly sensitive OPP operations and will gradually phase out the tech across other provincial departments. The government adds that it will begin speaking with other manufacturers and stakeholders about replacing this technology with non-Chinese in the coming weeks.
Currently, the province uses drones in areas like law enforcement, emergency management, wildfire monitoring, road and bridge inspections, and environmental monitoring. However, the government notes that the removal of this technology will be staggered so as to not interrupt any of these frontline operations.
“Now more than ever, it is critical that we are protecting our province’s data and safeguarding our security against bad actors,” said Stephen Crawford, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, in a press statement. “Banning government use and future purchases of Chinese-made drones is another important step in our plan to protect Ontario and better leverage Canada’s world-class drone manufacturing sector.”
This isn’t the first time Ontario has criticized Chinese-made technology. Earlier this year, Premier Doug Ford called on Canadians to boycott Chinese electric vehicles with claims they would “spy” on Canadians in the wake of the federal government’s deal with China to import nearly 50,000 cars from the Asian country.
And in general, many global bodies have expressed concerns with national security when it comes to China. This is what led Canada to ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network in 2022. Meanwhile, agencies like the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP, the U.S.’ Federal Communications Commission have restricted Chinese-made drones.
Source: Government of Ontario Via: CityNews
