VANCOUVER—Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has been approaching high-ranking members of Canada’s national-security committee, as well as MPs tied to an association that networks with government officials in Beijing, in a bid to shore up its image in Ottawa, according to lobbying records.

The chair of the 12-member Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, John McKay, and vice-chair Matthew Dube both took meetings with the company.

McKay said his meeting was a “friendly visit,” during which company reps told him there’s “nothing to see here” on the Huawei file.

The meetings happened mainly in October as international pressure to limit the company’s involvement in Canada’s telecommunications network continued to build, fuelled by concerns the company could be involved in Beijing-sponsored espionage.

They took place prior to the international dust-up between the U.S., Canada and China over the arrest of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou, which occurred in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the request of authorities in the U.S. She now awaits an extradition process to face fraud charges.

The visits to those on the Public Safety and National Security committee stand out next to Huawei’s competitors Samsung and Ericsson. Those companies mainly have visits with politicians to discuss science, economic and procurement issues, according to the lobbyist registry.

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Huawei lobbied eight MPs in the latter half of this year. Of those, six are members of the China-Canada Legislative Association, a body that facilitates discussion between Canadian MPs and members of China’s National People’s Congress, the supreme organ of state power in the country.

Scott Bradley, Huawei Canada’s senior vice-president of corporate affairs, said reaching out to government hasn’t been a common practice for the company.

“We had never done meetings with elected officials largely because the guidance from the previous government, clearly from Harper’s government, was that they didn’t want the matter politicized,” he said.

Recent media coverage of concerns around its 5G plans prompted a change in course, he explained. He described the visits with MPs as a chance to simply “tell them the story of Huawei in Canada,” including how the company operates and how long it’s been in the country.

Federal lobbying visits must be recorded when an interested party communicates with an elected official on a matter of public policy, federal grants or contracts. The lobby registry shows meetings taken by elected officials but not when requests for meetings were turned down.

Liberal MP Julie Dabrusin, who also sits on the national security committee, told StarMetro she turned down a meeting with the company. Several others said they hadn’t met with the company but wouldn’t indicate whether they had been approached.

Most of Huawei’s visits to officials in Ottawa happened weeks before a report by Transparency International gave Huawei a poor ranking for transparency on its lobbying practices.

The study released in late November by the anti-corruption organization gave Huawei an “F” in five of six categories related to transparency, lobbying practices, political engagement governance, hiring former public servants and ethical behaviour.

Forty-two per cent of the companies surveyed for the study, the Corporate Political Engagement Index 2018, received an F for lobbying practices.

The company received a “C” for disclosure of political contributions.

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But Bradley said he has “no concerns” with how the company conducts itself in Canada because it is under such strict scrutiny that it must do everything by the book.

Peter Kent, Conservative MP for Thornhill, Ont., said he was approached by Bradley and a co-worker to “correct my misunderstanding” of Huawei’s Canadian operations and 5G ambitions.

“Both gentlemen were very courteous,” Kent wrote in an email. “They both said that, as loyal Canadians, they would never work for a country that had ulterior motives that might threaten national security.”

But Kent said he told them he shares the same concerns as Canada’s security partners in the so-called Five Eyes group, the chief concern being Huawei is being used for state-sponsored espionage by Beijing.

He said the two men described the meeting as a “friendly drop in” and a background visit, but Kent suggested they register it as a lobbying event.

Bradley said he intended to register the meeting anyway.

“We know that the government is going to be looking at these things,” Bradley said. “It’s how we operate.”

One MP and member of the China-Canada Legislative Association said he wouldn’t accept another meeting with the company’s representatives after the ongoing international row over the arrest of the company’s CFO.

Dan Ruimy, Liberal MP for Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge in B.C., said he spoke with company representatives in October about products Huawei makes and its footprint in Canada.

Ruimy said he speaks to many people as part of his function as a member of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology but likely wouldn’t sit down with Huawei again.

“I probably wouldn’t go down that road. I wouldn’t want to add to all that is already out there,” Ruimy told StarMetro. “I don’t see what role I would play.”

Meanwhile, the Public Safety and National Security Committee is set to commence a study on cybersecurity and the financial sector in the new year.

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