Around 56 percent of Canadians believe that Huawei should be banned from participating in the deployment of 5G, according to a recent Angus Reid Institute study.
About 34 percent would support a limited arrangement similar to the one the U.K. decided on with the Chinese telecom company. The U.K ruled that Huawei will be given a limited role, and cannot participate in more than 35 percent of the deployment.
Interestingly, 10 percent of Canadians believe that Huawei should be allowed to build the entire 5G infrastructure, according to the study.
Opinions on the matter are driven in part by political preference. The study found that a majority of past conservative voters are inclined to block Huawei altogether. However, those who are more left-leaning are more open to allowing the company to participate in some form.
National security agencies are currently conducting a review to determine whether allowing the Chinese tech company to play a role in 5G would pose a security risk.
Canada is currently the only country in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance that hasn’t made a decision on Huawei yet. The other countries in the alliance include, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K and the U.S.
Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand have all banned Huawei from participating in building the network for the next generation of wireless technology.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains says that Canada is studying the U.K.’s decision, but hasn’t provided a timeline as to when the government will make a decision on its own review.
Further, the U.S. has said that if Canada decides to allow Huawei to participate then it would jeopardize intelligence sharing between the two countries.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted its study through an online survey between February 3rd-5th among a representative randomized sample of 1,505 Canadians. The margin of error in the study is plus or minus two percent.
Image credit: Angus Reid Institute
Source: Angus Reid Institute
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