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Ms. Walker declined to comment
but said on Tuesday in an Insta-
gram post: “I was shocked and
devastated to hear about these
results. I do not use illicit drugs,
ever.”
She continued: “My Canadian
teammates, my team in the barn,
our horses and I, have all put a
lifetime of effort toward an
Olympic goal and I would never
do anything to jeopardize that
for my teammates or for myself.”
The stakes are high for the
team, as the positive doping test
and a cancelled trip to the Tokyo
Games would mean cuts in fund-
ing from the Canadian Olympic
Committee and the potential loss
of corporate sponsors.
Ms. Walker is royalty in horse
circles. She went into the Pan
Ams as reigning Canadian show-
jumping champion. She is also
the daughter of Don Walker,
chief executive officer of auto-
parts maker Magna International
Inc., and his former wife Ms. Stro-
nach, both of whom made sup-
portive statements on Tuesday.
Ms. Stronach runs a global horse-
racing business built by her fa-
ther, Frank Stronach, a promi-
nent racehorse owner and Mag-
na’s billionaire founder.
According to multiple people
in the equestrian community,
Ms. Walker is a hard-working and
grounded athlete who does not
use recreational drugs.
“Nikki is focused, dedicated
and has enormous integrity,” Mr.
Laskin said in an interview on
Tuesday. He said the entire squad
has supported Ms. Walker since
she informed them of the posi-
tive test earlier this fall. “Nikki
would never knowingly do any-
thing to jeopardize her career or
the team,” Mr. Laskin said.
The FEI said on Tuesday that
Ms. Walker exercised her right to
request an appeal hearing before
the Panam Sports disciplinary
commission. “Once the disciplin-
ary commission has made a deci-
sion on the disqualification of
the athlete, and Team Canada’s
final placing, the FEI will be in a
position to make any necessary
reallocation of the Olympic quo-
ta place,” the Swiss body said.
Teammates are rallying to Ms.
Walker’s side and accept her ex-
planation for the failed drug test.
“I am a very big fan of Nikki
Walker. She is a very serious and
highly disciplined equestrian rid-
er,” said equestrian veteran Ian
Millar, who has represented Can-
ada in a record 10 Olympic
Games.
“She has represented Canada
with honour and distinction.
There is zero, and I mean zero,
chance of Nikki ever putting her-
self or her teammates in harm’s
way,” he said.
In Lima, Ms. Walker placed
fourth among 50 Pan Am riders,
the best individual performance
on a veteran Canadian jumping
team and critical to carrying the
entire squad to next summer’s
Olympics.
Over the years, Canadian
equestrians have won five Olym-
pic medals for jumping. The To-
kyo Games could potentially be
an emotional experience for the
group, as three-time medallist
Eric Lamaze is hoping to com-
pete as an individual athlete after
announcing this past summer
that he is dealing with a brain tu-
mour.
Prior to the Lima Games, Can-
ada’s athletes were warned that
they are responsible for every-
thing they ingest. Inadvertently
breaking the rules has cost Cana-
dian athletes in the past. Rower
Silken Laumann and three team-
mates lost their Pan Am gold
medals in 1995 after Ms. Lau-
mann turned in a positive drug
test from taking an over-the-
counter cold medication.
In late September, Panam
Sports said in a news release that
15 athletes tested positive for a
banned substance. The body has
already disqualified seven of the
athletes for doping at the Games
- three were stripped of gold
medals – while athletes, includ-
ing Ms. Walker, appealed the oth-
er eight tests.
The appeals are expected to be
resolved by the end of Novem-
ber.
“Nikki is an outstanding team
member and I am more than cer-
tain there is another explanation
for this positive test,” said Mr.
Laskin, but he added it is unclear
how a positive test result that
came from drinking coca tea
would be viewed by regulatory
bodies such as Panam Sports and
FEI.
Coca leaves are the source of
cocaine. However, the leaves can
also be boiled to make coca tea,
known in Peru asmate de coca.It
is a legal drink with a mild kick. It
is common for Peruvian hotels
and restaurants to serve a cup of
mate de cocato tourists to combat
jet lag and altitude sickness.
Medical studies show drinking
one cup of coca tea can result in a
positive drug test for up to 24
hours.
For athletes, there’s precedent
of positive drug tests from coca
tea. In 2005, for example, the
Jockey Club in Britain commis-
sioned a study of the beverage af-
ter several jockeys tested positive
for cocaine and claimed it was a
result of drinking coca tea.
There were three other ath-
letes on the Canadian Pan Am
jumping team – Erynn Ballard
from Ontario, Alberta-based Lisa
Carlsen and Mario Deslauriers
from Quebec. Ms. Carlsen and
Mr. Deslauriers, both 54, compet-
ed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul,
and Mr. Deslauriers also rode in
the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Ms.
Ballard, 38, has not competed at
the Olympics. She also had a
strong showing in Lima.
Mr. Deslauriers said in a news
release that Ms. Walker “is a great
teammate – organized, profes-
sional, hard-working and always
ready to help out. She is an out-
standing ambassador for our
sport.”
He added: “I believe 100 per
cent there is another explanation
for these test results.”
Ms. Walker and her horse were
the country’s featured jumpers
going into the Pan Am Games.
“Wearing the red jacket brings
added pressure, but it is an in-
credible feeling to have a whole
nation behind you,” Ms. Walker
said in a news release this sum-
mer.
Ms. Walker delivered in Lima.
Her fourth-place finish was just
short of bronze – she finished be-
hind an American athlete by less
than a two-second margin in a
four-rider “jump off” for the final
medal. Brazil’s jumping team
won gold, while Mexico took sil-
ver and the United States went
home with bronze.
NicoleWalkercompetesduringthe2019PanAmericanGamesinLimaonAug.7.Ms.Walkerhasbeen
provisionallysuspendedfromcompetingonCanada’sshow-jumpingteaminthe2020Olympicsaftertesting
positiveforabannedsubstance.RAULSIFUENTES/GETTYIMAGESFORFEI
Walker:CancelledtriptoOlympics
wouldleadtocutstoteam’sfunding
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Forathletes,
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ofpositivedrugtests
fromcocatea.
The Americans and Australians say Huawei answers to Chi-
na’s ruling Communist Party and could be compelled to help
Beijing spy or sabotage Western networks. Chinese law says
companies must “support, co-operate with and collaborate
in national intelligence work” when asked.
A Canadian cabinet decision on Huawei is unlikely until
2020, the official told The Globe and Mail, citing increasingly
strained relations with China as well as the difference of opin-
ion between the intelligence services.
Over the past decade, Canadian wireless companies have
added Huawei gear to their cellular networks. The equipment
is on the periphery, or the edge of the system, of radio access
networks, which can be found in cell towers. It is not in the
core of any network, in keeping with a directive to carriers
from thegovernment that was formalized around 2014. This
was a decision for security reasons.
The official said the federal cabinet has several options:
maintaining the status quo, the status quo plus tougher
checks on Huawei’s 5G wireless systems, or an outright ban.
Intelligence and cybersecurity officials in the United States
and Australia are adamant that allowing Huawei anywhere in
the network is an unacceptable security vulnerability. Wash-
ington has threatened to scale back sharing of highly classi-
fied intelligence with allies that allow Huawei into their 5G
networks.
The official said the first two options would provide in-
creasing oversight to satisfy the United States while allowing
Huawei a continued presence in Canada.
A ban could saddle Canadian wireless carriers with hun-
dreds of millions of dollars in extra costs and upgrades, the
official said. Bell Canada and Telus Communications, which
use Huawei extensively in their existing networks, would
have to remove and replace gear to accommodate a different
supplier’s equipment. Bell and Telus plan to use Huawei gear
in their 5G networks, while rival Rogers will get equipment
from Sweden’s Ericsson.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand – who, along
with Canada and Britain form the Five Eyes intelligence-shar-
ing alliance – have blocked wireless carriers from installing 5G
mobile technology from Huawei. Britain also has yet to de-
cide.
Scott Bardsley, manager of media relations in the office of
the Public Safety Minister, would not comment on the review
or when the new Liberal cabinet,
which will be sworn in on Nov. 20,
will decide.
“An examination of emerging
5G technology and the associated
security and economic considera-
tions is under way,” Mr. Bardsley
said. “This review includes the
careful consideration of our allies’
advice. We will ensure that our
networks are kept secure and will
take the appropriate decisions in due course.”
Canada has testing facilities in which labs funded by Hua-
wei but staffed by independent experts test the Chinese com-
pany’s equipment and software to prevent security breaches.
Britain has similar facilities.
Huawei is not permitted to bidon federal government con-
tracts or provide equipment, such as routers and switches, for
the core network of Canada’s telecoms – nor are Huawei tech-
nicians allowed to manage the servicing of its equipment
from offshore.
The new 5G wireless technology will require many more
small cell sites – smaller versions of cell towers – to provide a
dense web of coverage to deliver faster downloads and almost
no lag time.
It’s not clear limiting the use of Huawei gear to non-core
areas would work in 5G networks.
Senior intelligence agency officials in the United States and
Australia have long warned that because 5G technology dif-
fers from previous generations, it is impossible to fence off
parts of the network.
U.S. cybersecurity official Robert Strayer says 5G brings
processing power much closer to users, but this means all of
the network has to be protected equally. “You cannot miti-
gate the risk of untrustworthy vendors in 5G networks by
placing them in the ‘edge’ because there is no distinction be-
tween the edge and the core,” Mr. Strayer wrote on a U.S. gov-
ernment website set up for smart phone users.
Richard Fadden, a former CSIS director who was national
security adviser to two prime ministers, said he is not sur-
prised CSIS and CSE are at odds over Huawei.
“CSE is supposed to have a technical mandate ... and they
have formed the view that it’s possible to have Huawei be giv-
en some access without endangering national security from a
technical perspective,” he said.
“CSIS, I think, has been given a somewhat broader man-
date, which is supposed to take into account technical issues,
but also the broader issue of what might happen in the long
term,” he said.
“So I happen to think CSIS is correct in this instance, if what
you are telling me is in fact the case,” he said of the informa-
tion that CSIS and CSE are at loggerheads.
A recent study of Huawei found its devices and equipment
have security vulnerabilities that could be used to gain access.
“The results of the analysis show that Huawei devices
quantitatively pose a high risk to their users,” the report said.
“Huawei devices were found to be less secure than those from
other vendors making similar devices,” said Finite State, a cy-
bersecurity firm based in Ohio.
Huawei:Alliesclaimtech
couldbesecuritythreat
Abancouldsaddle
Canadianwireless
carrierswith
hundredsofmillions
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