Canadian Foreign Ownership Changes ‘Risk’ National Security

Canada’s plan to allow foreign companies such as VimpelCom Ltd. to increase their stakes in the country’s telecommunications providers poses a “considerable risk” to national security, Public Safety Canada warned.

“The security and intelligence community is of the view that lessening or removing restrictions from the Telecommunications Act, without implementing mitigation measures, would pose a considerable risk to public safety and national security,” Daniel Lavoie, a senior official with Public Safety, said in a letter to Industry Canada.