Ottawa's decision on RCMP contract 'ludicrous,' expert says
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RCMP suspends contract with China-linked company
Contract raised concerns about risk of espionage targeting Canada's national police service
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed Thursday that the RCMP has suspended a contract with Sinclair Technologies for radio frequency (RF) equipment. Sinclair's parent company, Norsat International, has been owned by Chinese telecommunications firm Hytera since 2017.
The Chinese government owns around 10 per cent of Hytera through an investment fund.
"As of this moment, the RCMP have suspended the contract with Sinclair, and they are in the process of both reviewing the manner in which this contract was awarded, as well as mitigating against any risks," Mendicino said in a media scrum Thursday.
An RCMP spokesperson previously told Radio-Canada that installation work for the RF system had started in Ontario and Saskatchewan. Mendicino didn't directly answer a question about whether the equipment, which is designed in part to secure the RCMP's radio communications, will be removed.
"That is precisely what I've asked the RCMP to examine very carefully. They have indicated to me that it is the RCMP that have installed this equipment, so there was a degree of control exercised over it once the equipment has acquired," Mendicino said.
"But they are going back and double checking, being absolutely sure that they are mitigating against any potential residual risks."
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blacklisted Hytera in 2021. The FCC says the company is one of several Chinese firms that pose "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that the government would examine the contract.
Trudeau said the government "will have some real questions for the independent public service" about the contracts. He said the government will look at changing its procurement rules so that contracts don't always have to go to the lowest bidder.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) previously told Radio-Canada that security concerns and Sinclair's ownership were not taken into consideration during the bidding process. The contract, awarded on October 6, 2021, was worth $549,637.
Sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Radio-Canada that the difference between Sinclair's bid and that of its competitor, Quebec-based Comprod, was less than $60,000.
CBC News has reached out to the RCMP and Sinclair for comment.
A
sign outside Sinclair Technologies office in Aurora, Ontario. Since
2017, the company has been controlled by Chinese telecommunications firm
Hytera, which is partly owned by the Chinese government. (Marc Godbout/Radio-Canada)
The news comes at a time of rising tensions between China and Canada. The government recently unveiled an Indo-Pacific Strategy which includes a plan to address China's increasing power on the world stage. China's government has condemned the strategy, saying it's "full of unscrupulous attacks and smears against China."
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said the RCMP-Sinclair contract was not consistent with the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
"I said in the Indo-Pacific Strategy that we need to put the national lens on our contracts and our decision-making. This is the position of the government going forward," she said in a media scrum ahead of question period Thursday.
Joly, like Trudeau, said the public service was at fault.
"The independent public service ... decided to sign that contract at the time," Joly said, adding that the contract "should have never been signed."
Radio-Canada reported Thursday that the federal government did not seek a risk assessment from the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Canada's electronic spy agency, on the contract.
CSE's mandate allows the agency to carry out cybersecurity and supply chain integrity risk assessments or business ownership reviews on request.
WATCH | Conservative critic reacts after RCMP suspends contract with China-linked company
Michael Barrett, the Conservative critic for ethics and accountable government, called on the government to make changes to prevent a similar situation from happening again.
"[There are] a lot of concerns, but it really comes down to … the government put the fox in charge of the hen house, and we need to find out how this happened and make sure it doesn't happen again," Barrett said in a media scrum Thursday.
"We, Canadians, need to have confidence that the government is making the right decision the first time."
Defence investigating Sinclair contracts
In response to questions from CBC, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence (DND) said in an email the department is investigating Sinclair Technologies "procurements" and how the equipment procured is being used.
The spokesperson added that, while the work is ongoing, the department has identified one DND procurement contract awarded to Sinclair since the company's acquisition by Hytera in 2017.
Details of the contract posted online say it was for 12 antennas for two naval bases — CFB Halifax and CFB Esquimalt in B.C.
"We are aware of the concerns surrounding Sinclair Technologies," the spokesperson said.
"We are investigating these procurements and the way in which this equipment is used, alongside counterparts in other government departments ... We will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure the security of our infrastructure."
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With files from Radio-Canada's Marc Godbout.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-contract-government-review-1.6677136
Government will review RCMP contract awarded to China-linked company
Radio-Canada investigation found contract saved less than $60,000 on radio communications equipment
Trudeau said the government will also re-examine its approach to procurement.
A Radio-Canada investigation found that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) awarded Sinclair Technologies a contract worth $549,637 last year to build and maintain a radio frequency (RF) filtering system for the Mounties.
While Sinclair is based in Ontario, its parent company Norsat International has been owned by Chinese telecommunications firm Hytera since 2017. The Chinese government owns about 10 per cent of Hytera through an investment fund.
A
sign outside Sinclair Technologies office in Aurora, Ontario. Since
2017, the company has been controlled by Chinese telecommunications firm
Hytera, which is partly owned by the Chinese government. (Marc Godbout/Radio-Canada)
PSPC said in response to Radio-Canada's inquiries that it did not consider security concerns or Sinclair's ownership in the bidding process. Radio-Canada confirmed through sources with knowledge of the matter that the difference between Sinclair's bid and that of its competitor, Quebec-based Comprod, was less than $60,000.
Trudeau said Wednesday morning that his government will look into the matter and will examine the role security plays in government procurement.
"Absolutely, we're going to be finding out first of all what needs to be done to ensure that our communications technology is secure, but also make sure we're figuring out how this could continue to happen and make sure that Canada is not signing contracts with the lowest bidder that then turn around and leave us exposed to security flaws," he told a news conference.
"We will have some real questions for the independent public service that signed these contracts, and we'll make sure that this is changed going forward. It's high time that happens."
WATCH | Trudeau: 'We will have some real questions' about contract for RCMP equipment with Chinese-linked company
Part of the RF system's function is to secure the RCMP's land-based radio communications. An RCMP spokesperson told Radio-Canada that installation of the equipment has started in Ontario and Saskatchewan, and that any contractor working on the equipment has to get a security clearance.
The news comes after Canadian national security organizations have warned about threats to Canadian democracy and institutions posed by foreign actors, including China. The federal government also recently unveiled its Indo-Pacfic Strategy, which includes a plan to confront an 'increasingly disruptive' China.
Trudeau said Wednesday he finds it "disconcerting" that while security agencies were "advising us as a government and as Canadians that we have to be very careful about foreign interference in our institutions ... other parts of the civil service were signing contracts that have questionable levels of security for our operations and our national security institutions like the RCMP."
WATCH | Government is looking at RCMP contract with China-linked company ' very carefully': Mendicino
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Wednesday that department officials are examining the RCMP contract.
"We're eyes wide open about the threats that are posed by hostile state and non-state actors, and that includes [China]," he told a media scrum.
"What I've done, in the light of this report, is to instruct my officials to look very closely at the details of that contract and also to work with our officials to review the process by which this contract was awarded."
A Sinclair Technologies executive declined an interview with Radio-Canada on the equipment and the contract, citing customer confidentiality.
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned the sale and import of Hytera products in 2021, citing national security concerns.
Hytera is also facing 21 charges in an American espionage case. The United States Department of Justice has accused the company of conspiring to steal trade secrets from American telecommunications company Motorola. Hytera has denied the allegations.
Opposition leaders criticize government over contract
Speaking with reporters before question period Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the government to terminate the contract and called on Trudeau to take responsibility for it.
"Yes, it should be cancelled, and Justin Trudeau is responsible. He's the head of government and this is a government contract," Poilievre said.
Poilievre said the American charges against Hytera should have been cause for concern about Sinclair's bid.
He added the government should limit its sources for equipment purchases.
"We as a government, we as a country, should not allow countries and government-owned enterprises that are known for espionage to sell technology that is related to our telecommunications," Poilievre said.
WATCH | 'He's head of government and this is a government contract': Poilievre
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the American government's decision to blacklist Hytera should have been a red flag for the federal government.
"You would think that Canada would go through the proper protocol to make sure our information, as sensitive as it is with a federal policing agency, is not being subject to a serious threat or breach," Singh told a news conference.
"I'm deeply concerned, I think that there is a real risk here, and it shows that the government did not take the appropriate steps to vet this project or the company."
WATCH | Singh calls RCMP equipment contract with China-linked company 'shocking'
Singh called on the government to make changes to its procurement process.
"There needs to be a better process in place to protect our privacy and our security for our information systems — particularly given that this is now being identified as the major security risk to our country," Singh said.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Wednesday that the government should investigate the RCMP contract.
"We need to remain more vigilant to prevent things like that, and understand the why and how something can happen at a moment where we know that we have to take care of geopolitical challenges with respect to China," Champagne said Wednesday in a media scrum.
"So we need to be very mindful of what happened and I think every branch of government needs to apply that level of scrutiny."
Later
Wednesday evening, Champagne held a press conference outlining a number
of proposed changes to Canada's foreign investment rules which he said
would bolster national security.
When asked if the proposed
rules would have prevented Norsat from investing in Sinclair, he said
the new rules are a step in the right direction.
Government likely could terminate deal, experts say
While the terms of the Sinclair contract aren't public, experts say Ottawa probably could terminate the contract.
Peter Jarosz, an Ottawa-based lawyer at McMillan LLP, said a set of standard terms govern all federal government contracting and they include termination clauses.
One of those clauses — "Termination for Convenience of Canada" — gives the government wide latitude to cancel contracts, Jarosz said, but it may come at a price.
"The government can cancel because it wants to, and it may have to compensate the supplier," he said.
Jarosz said such clauses exist because the government needs flexibility in procurement.
"When the government purchases things, it's not like a consumer," he said. "A government has policy issues to deal with, national security issues to deal with — all kinds of things that the consumer doesn't."
Alan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister of materiel at the Department of National Defence, said termination of government procurement contracts is uncommon but not unheard of. He cited the Chretien government's 1993 cancellation of a $5 billion military helicopter contract as an example.
"If you can't cancel for non-performance, you have to cancel just simply because you want out of the deal," Williams said.
"That puts you in a difficult negotiating position but sometimes that's the best option in a case."
The government still should review the list of companies it allows to bid on procurement projects, Williams said.
"The government is accountable for determining which, if any, companies we ought to buy equipment from, or cannot buy equipment from. And then the bureaucrats just comply with those rules," he said.
"But if the government doesn't set those rules, there's no reason for the purchasers to arbitrarily exclude them."
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-contract-firm-china-1.6676065
Federal government awarded RCMP contract to firm with ties to China
Government did not consider security concerns in bid to build and maintain RCMP radio equipment
Sinclair
Technologies won a contract to build and maintain security equipment
for RCMP radio communications, but Sinclair's ownership by a Chinese
company with financial ties to China's government has security experts
concerned. (Shannon VanRaes/Reuters)The contract has security experts raising concerns about potential Chinese access to RCMP communications and data.
On October 6, 2021, the federal government awarded Sinclair Technologies a contract worth $549,637 for a radio frequency (RF) filtering system. One of the system's purposes is to protect the RCMP's land-based radio communications from eavesdropping.
While Sinclair Technologies is based in Ontario, the company has been controlled by Hytera Communications of Shenzen, China since 2017, when Hytera purchased Norsat International, Sinclair's parent company.
The Chinese government owns approximately 10 per cent of Hytera Communications through an investment fund.
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blacklisted Hytera in 2021. The FCC says the company is one of several Chinese firms that pose "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons."
Sales and imports of Hytera equipment are banned in the United States as a result.
Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei also appears on the list. Canada banned Huawei from its 5G network this year.
Hytera Communications is facing 21 charges in an American espionage case. The United States Department of Justice has accused the company of conspiring to steal trade secrets from American telecommunications company Motorola.
The indictment alleges Hytera recruited and hired Motorola employees to obtain confidential business information between 2007 and 2020. Hytera Communications has denied all the charges in the indictment.
Sinclair Technologies' main competitor for the RCMP contact was Comprod, a Quebec-based communications technology firm.
Jawad Abdulnour, Comprod's vice-president of R&D and engineering, said Sinclair Technologies can make equipment cheaper than it did before because some of its components are now made in China, not Canada.
"It's very frustrating, disappointing and worrisome," Abdulnour said in an interview.
"How is it that a government agency just goes with the lowest bidder and will give contracts to companies like that when we're talking about national security?"
A
sign outside the Sinclair Technologies office in Aurora, Ont. Since
2017, the company has been controlled by the Chinese telecommunications
firm Hytera, which is partly owned by the Chinese government. (Marc Godbout/Radio-Canada)
Radio-Canada has confirmed — through several sources with knowledge of the process who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter — that the difference between the Sinclair and Comprod bids was less than $60,000.
An RCMP spokesperson told Radio-Canada in a media statement that installation work on the systems has started in Ontario and Saskatchewan.
"Most of the time, the RCMP radio support teams carry out the installation themselves," said Cpl. Kim Chamberland in an email.
But the contract's call for tenders requires that the contractor provide maintenance and technical support services after the system is installed.
Chamberland told Radio-Canada that the RCMP is confident the system will remain secure.
"All information, including radio frequencies, is shared securely and only with those with the appropriate level of security," she wrote.
"All contractors who have access to RCMP networks and locations must obtain a security clearance according to the work to be performed."
A spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the department that awarded the contract, said in response to Radio-Canada's questions that PSPC did not take security concerns and Sinclair's ownership into consideration during the bidding process.
Sinclair Technologies declined to answer Radio-Canada's questions about whether its equipment contains components made in China, and whether Hytera can access RCMP radio frequencies.
"Due to customer confidentiality, we are unable to provide comment and we respectfully decline your interview invitation," Wee Er, executive general manager of Sinclair Technologies, said in an email.
Experts concerned about security
Conor Healy is a Canadian now based in Washington who serves as director of government research at IPVM, a security and surveillance research group. He said he's concerned about giving a Hytera-owned company access to sensitive RCMP communications.
"If I worked for an intelligence agency, this is exactly the kind of system I'd want to have access to," Healy said.
Healy said the risks include eavesdropping, collection of communications data and jamming or shutting down the radio communications system.
University of Ottawa senior fellow Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former senior federal official and a specialist on China's science and technology, said the government should terminate the contract.
"You have to be naïve," McCuaig-Johnston said. "It's like giving the key to Canada's security to Chinese actors.
"It's not just about getting rid of the contract. It's also a matter of ripping out what has already been installed."
The October 2021 decision by the federal government makes Sinclair a preferred vendor for a three-year term. The agreement includes the possibility of a two-year extension option.
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"U.S. prosecutors on Thursday asked a judge to dismiss bank fraud and other charges against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies whose 2018 arrest strained relations not only between the U.S. and China, but also Canada and China."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-charges-meng-wanzhou-1.6671878
U.S. dismissing charges against Huawei's Meng Wanzhou
As part of deferred prosecution deal struck in 2021, Meng acknowledges making false statements
Meng struck a deal with the prosecutors last year for the charges against her to be dismissed on Dec. 1, 2022, four years from the date of her arrest in British Columbia on a U.S. warrant, as Reuters reported first.
With no information Meng violated the deal, "the government respectfully moves to dismiss the third superseding indictment in this case as to defendant Wanzhou Meng," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny wrote in a Dec. 1 letter to U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly.
While Thursday's move was expected, it closes a chapter on a particularly fraught phase of U.S.-China relations that also thrust Canada into the middle of a broader clash between the two superpowers.
Meng had been accused of bank fraud and other crimes for misleading global bank HSBC Holdings Plc about the company's business in Iran to obtain banking services in violation of U.S. sanctions.
As part of her deal — a deferred prosecution agreement — she acknowledged that she had made false statements about the company's Iran business in a 2013 meeting with a bank executive.
Meng's untrue statements were in a statement of facts that she agreed was accurate and voluntary and would not contradict.
Huawei still faces charges
Huawei, a telecommunications equipment maker the U.S. views as a national security threat, is still charged in the case, which is pending in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y. No trial date has yet been set, and a status conference is scheduled for Feb. 7.
The charges against Huawei include everything from bank fraud to sanctions busting to conspiracy to steal trade secrets from U.S. technology companies and obstructing justice. It has pleaded not guilty.
WATCH | Canada makes long-awaited decision on Huawei:
Canada bans China’s Huawei from 5G network
In the wake of its alleged activities, Huawei was added to a U.S. trade-ban list, restricting U.S. suppliers from doing business with the company.
The United States also waged a global campaign against Huawei, warning that the Chinese government could use the company's equipment to spy.
Just this week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopted final rules banning new telecommunications equipment from Huawei.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, now serves as the company's rotating chairwoman and deputy chairwoman as well as its chief financial officer.
She flew to China from Canada on Sept. 24, 2021, the day she struck the deal. Two Canadians arrested in China shortly after she was detained were then released — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — and two American siblings who had been prevented from leaving China were allowed to fly home.
Months after the two Canadians were released, Ottawa followed its Five Eyes security allies such as Britain and Australia by banning Huawei from Canadian 5G networks.
A lawyer for Meng declined comment and a spokesperson for Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With files from CBC News
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvfOXfdIWx4&ab_channel=CTVNews
PM Trudeau accused of sidestepping repeated questions on political interference
Conservative MP Michael Chong and NDP MP Heather McPherson discuss whether Canada is doing enough to prevent political interference.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ezra-levant-neil-macdonald-1.3452671
The Rebel and the NDP, why not to provoke Ezra Levant
Thanks Rachel Notley, for helping define what journalists are, or maybe aren't?
The big one is that we are a profession, which we pretty clearly are not. We don't even really qualify as a trade.
Professions generally have minimum qualifications. You need a degree in accounting to be an accountant, for example.
And a tradesman, like a mechanic, or a furnace installer, requires a licence — something to prove you can actually do the job.
Not a journalist. Journalists don't even have to finish high school.
- Notley's NDP lifts ban on The Rebel, says it made mistake
- Justin Trudeau boycotts Sun Media over Ezra Levant rant
Professions also tend to regulate themselves.
If lawyers or doctors or pharmacists breach the clear ethical rules governing them, they can be formally charged and punished by their peers.
The car mechanic or furnace installer can lose his licence.
But regulating journalism? Out of the question, for the sake of democracy itself, my peers would argue.
There are no national journalistic standards, and no way to enforce them if they existed.
Journalists can root through people's garbage, mislead interview subjects to gain their confidence, appoint themselves arbiters of people's privacy, and decide whose story is worth public consideration, and whose isn't — the only people we answer to are our bosses.
Most of us do try to tell the truth, but let's be clear: there isn't any law or regulation that says we even have to do that. Some big organizations have codes of conduct, others don't. Such rules as do exist are often interpretable.
And anyway, what is the truth? There are many truths.
No basic qualifications
Our only legal leash is libel law, and we hire lawyers to deal with that.
Massive blunders can be shrugged off.
The day after the National Post printed a huge front page scoop in 2006, reporting that the Iranian parliament had voted to force Iranian Jews to wear identification badges, a member of the Asper family, which owned the paper at the time, conceded the story was complete malarkey.
But, he added, it "wasn't a stretch." You know, it could have happened. The editor-in-chief was still the editor-in-chief the next day.
Premier
Rachel Notley has asked a former journalist to review her government's
media policies. Her spokeswoman said "it's clear we made a mistake" when
the government tried to ban The Rebel correspondents from news
conferences. (CBC)
Journalists also resist any effort to formally define the job. In 1988, the federal government wanted to include journalism on the list of occupations that would enjoy relatively free cross-border movement under the first Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
But that meant setting down in law a set of basic qualifications — like a journalism degree — and journalistic organizations put up such a fuss that the idea was dropped.
The upshot: basically, anybody who says he or she is a journalist is a journalist.
Which brings us to Ezra Levant.
Career launched
After Sun News Network was shuttered a year ago, Levant was suddenly a big mouth with no bullhorn.
He'd built a long career as a right-wing stunt man; I had the dubious honour of "discovering" him back in 1993, when he was a University of Alberta law student in Edmonton agitating against the school's attempts to set aside places for aboriginal students.
Levant posted signs announcing the university had adopted an anti-Semitic policy, and called what amounted to a news conference.
He then told those in attendance that since Jews aren't aboriginals, U of A was discriminating against Jews.
The dean of students, foolishly taking the bait, threatened Levant with expulsion for hate speech. He went public, and his career was launched. First as a political operative, then in conservative media.
Levant works from the same playbook used by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and the other big names in right-wing American talk radio. Red-meat righties love him.
Knowing how prissy and self-righteous some progressives can be, one of Levant's standard plays is to goad some group or figure on the left, then portray himself as one brave man standing up to those who would take away our freedoms. He provoked Justin Trudeau by taking ugly personal shots at Trudeau's father and mother.
This week, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and her NDP government became the latest to take the bait.
A mistake
Notley's staff, outraged at Levant, summarily decided to ban the correspondent from The Rebel website from government news conferences.
Their argument: Levant himself once denied being a journalist, so the Rebel is not a journalistic outlet. (In fact, Levant, testifying once in a libel trial, said he is a pundit and commentator, not a reporter.)
Now, it's true that The Rebel's Alberta bureau chief, Sheila Gunn Reid, doesn't fit the conventional notion of a journalist.
What
started this was when Rebel correspondent Sheila Gunn Reid was barred
from covering a news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley on Feb. 3. (The Rebel )
On The Rebel site, she describes herself as a "stay at home mom of three and a conservative activist … with strong ties to the oil patch."
But then again, Toronto journalist Linda McQuaig works from home a lot, too, is a mom of one and an NDP activist — she actually ran for the party as a candidate in the last general election.
Levant would argue that the mainstream media tend to regard left-leaning activist/journalists with admiration, and right-wing activist/journalists with some distaste. And he'd have a point.
Anyway, Levant used Notley's decision to blast his own trumpet and was, suddenly, back where he so loves to be: in the middle of a controversy, or as he modestly put it on his website, "an international firestorm."
Canadian journalists and publications, rolling their eyes, did what he knew they would do: they lined up to denounce the Notley decision, or as Levant loves to put it, "stand with Ezra."
Notley was told in pretty clear terms that defining journalists and excluding the ones you don't like are unacceptable.
Fairly quickly, she backed down. Banning Levant was "a mistake," her office said in a statement. A retired veteran wire service reporter was asked to review the whole matter and report back.
All to the good. Levant is a journalist if he says he's one, and he does.
Mind you, it would have been wonderful to hear him raise his fearless voice in defiant criticism when Stephen Harper's underlings were gagging public servants, shutting down access for journalists, controlling questioning at news conferences and generally making Notley's crew seem like amateurs.
But then, there's nothing that says a journalist has to be consistent, either.
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WATCH: Trudeau protesters gather in Surrey to condemn prime minister's leadership
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Five alleged Chinese 'police stations' identified in Canada
A Spanish civil rights group says it has identified 102 Chinese 'police service stations' operating across 53 countries, including five in Canada. The locations represent 'rapidly expanding transnational repression campaign' by Beijing, says Safeguard Defenders campaign director Laura Harth.
Former fugitive Kevin J. Johnston pleads guilty to fleeing to U.S. to avoid jail
He was arrested in Montana in January after fleeing Calgary to avoid his jail sentence
Disgraced Calgary mayoral candidate Kevin J. Johnston has pleaded guilty to fleeing the country when he was supposed to be serving a jail sentence.
Johnston was convicted of being unlawfully at large and was sentenced to time served, having spent 47 days on house arrest while on bail.
Before handing down that sentence, provincial court Judge Harry van Harten asked if Johnston would consent to a medical treatment order where he would receive a COVID vaccination and be required to disclose that fact to his followers.
After a brief chat with his client, defence lawyer Ian McCuaig said Johnston would not consent to such an order.
'Out of control'
Prosecutor Peter Mackenzie proposed Johnston spend 30 days in jail with no credit for the time spent on bail conditions but van Harten sided with McCuaig and released the former fugitive.
In January, Johnston was arrested trying to cross the Saskatchewan border on foot into Montana in temperatures that were potentially deadly.
He had skipped out on his final weekend in jail in Calgary.
That sentence was tied to two counts of contempt Johnston was found guilty on for what a Calgary judge described as "out of control" behaviour.
A leader in the pandemic-denying, anti-mask movement, Johnston incited followers to defy public health restrictions for months.
He was handed a 40-day jail term to be served on weekends, the last four days of which he failed to show up for before heading for the border.
18-month Ontario sentence
Johnston has had numerous interactions with the justice system over the past few years.
In September, Johnston pleaded guilty to a hate crime in Ontario for numerous anti-Muslim online posts in 2017.
Months earlier, Johnston pleaded guilty to criminal harassment for targeting an AHS employee who was tasked with enforcing public health measures. He posted photos of the woman and her family online and threatened to show up at her home.
The same month, Johnston was also convicted of causing a disturbance at the Core shopping centre when he became belligerent with employees after being asked to wear a mask.
At the time of his pleas, Johnston had served about 10 weeks in jail, and with enhanced credit, prosecutors proposed and the judge accepted a time-served sentence.
In October, Johnston was handed an 18-month sentence for a conviction of civil contempt handed down after he continued to post racist, hateful statements about a Muslim restaurant owner in Toronto.
Johnston never turned up to begin serving that sentence.
The Kevin J. Johnston Show - TONIGHT - Canadian Gun Control |
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