In response to Ontario Premier Ford’s claims that Chinese electric vehicles could be used as “spy tools” and threaten Canadian national security, senior officials in the Carney government have publicly refuted these claims. On Tuesday (January 20), Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree stated that from the perspective of Canadian public and national security, the federal government currently has no security concerns regarding Chinese electric vehicles.
According to the local English-language media outlet, the Toronto Star, Ananda Sangari emphasized in a media interview in Ottawa that any vehicle entering the Canadian market must meet Canadian safety and regulatory standards. “I will let the Ontario Premier (Ford) express his views, but from the perspective of the federal public safety assessment, we have no such concerns,” the minister said.
However, he also acknowledged that with technological advancements, data collection capabilities have become increasingly sophisticated across various devices, including social media, artificial intelligence, and smart cars, all of which involve privacy and data issues.
“My own car has a lot of information-gathering capabilities,” Minister Ananda Sangari said, holding up his iPhone: “This device is the same.” In his view, this is a holistic technological challenge, not just for a particular country or product. This statement comes just after Canada and China reached a widely controversial trade agreement.
Following a meeting between Prime Minister Carney and Chinese leaders, Canada and China agreed to ease trade tensions: Canada will lower the 100% tariff previously imposed on Chinese electric vehicles, in line with the United States; in exchange, China will reduce tariffs on Canadian canola, lobster, crab, and peas. Under the agreement, Canada will initially allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into its domestic market, and Chinese companies are expected to increase their investment in Canada’s automotive manufacturing industry in the coming years. However, this arrangement was quickly met with strong criticism from Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Ford called the agreement “a very, very bad and seriously misjudged decision” that would not only impact Ontario’s auto industry but could also allow so-called “spy cars” to enter Canada and collect data for Beijing. He even warned that Chinese electric vehicles could, like smartphones, eavesdrop on and collect personal information from Canadians.
Academics and security experts have expressed relatively cautious views on this issue. Stephanie Carvin, Associate Professor of International Affairs at Carleton University, pointed out that, theoretically, connected electric vehicles do possess the technological capability to collect large amounts of data, and the cybersecurity protections of some electric vehicle systems may not even be as mature as those of mobile phones. However, she also emphasized that this is not a decisive reason to prevent Chinese electric vehicles from entering the Canadian market.
“China doesn’t need to rely on electric vehicles for intelligence activities,” she said. “They already have plenty of tools.” In her view, focusing solely on electric vehicles exaggerates their security risks. In fact, in its latest annual report, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) explicitly stated that China poses one of the most significant counterintelligence threats to Canada. However, the report emphasizes the overall national security environment and does not identify electric vehicles as a core source of risk.
It’s worth noting that even Carney himself, during the spring election this year, called China one of the biggest threats to Canada’s national security. However, in recent diplomatic activities, he emphasized that there is a “clear security barrier” in Canada-China relations, and that Canada will adhere to its own security principles while promoting economic and trade exchanges.
Ananda Sangari also reiterated that even if Canada adjusts its economic relations with certain countries, the work of the federal public safety authorities will not be relaxed. “The relevant scrutiny and enforcement will continue to be conducted with the same level of rigor that Canadians expect,” he stated.
Some analysts point out that the main risk posed by this electric vehicle agreement lies less in intelligence security and more in its impact on the Canadian auto industry. If Chinese automakers fail to fulfill their commitments to invest in and build factories in Canada, the domestic industry could face even greater competitive pressure.
Jim Stanford, an economist at the Canadian research institution Centre for the Future of Work, believes that even if Chinese companies intend to invest in Canada, they must simultaneously overcome U.S. security restrictions on Chinese automotive technology, a challenge that may be far greater than the tariff issue.