CTV News confirmed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stopped a controversial contract awarded to a Canadian company whose parent organization is linked to the Chinese government.

The office of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told CTV News on Thursday that the contract signed by the RCMP in October 2021, worth $549,637, with Sinclair Technologies based in Ontario for radio frequency filters, has now been temporarily halted.

Also earlier today, Mendicino told reporters that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are "looking very carefully" at the equipment installed and are proceeding with stricter scrutiny when awarding contracts that may have national security implications.

After the disclosure of this contract, the RCMP said that the national police force’s wireless communications are protected by encryption and that the radio frequency filtering equipment "does not pose any security concerns and does not allow access to wireless communications."

The RCMP also said on Wednesday: "The contract was awarded in accordance with federal government procurement policies and regulations, and according to trade agreements."

In an earlier statement to CTV News, Sinclair said it is a trusted and independent company.

The RCMP contract is not the only one the federal government granted to Sinclair Technologies; CTV News found several other contracts, each worth more than $90,000, since the company Hitera acquired Sinclair’s parent company Norsat in 2017. Hitera is partly owned by the Chinese government. These contracts included those with the RCMP, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Department of National Defence.

On Thursday, the Department of National Defence said it is aware of the concerns surrounding Sinclair Technologies and is "investigating these purchases and how this equipment is being used, alongside its counterparts in other government departments."

The department added in a statement that "the government will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of our infrastructure."

For the second day in a row, the issue raised a series of questions for the federal government in the House of Commons.

Also, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly—who recently introduced a new Indo-Pacific strategy indicating a tougher stance towards China—said that the "independent public service" should "never sign" these contracts.