The Trudeau Liberals tried and failed to block expedited hearings into why Cabinet concealed evidence of Chinese security breaches at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, per Blacklock’s Reporter. A 614-page report made public February 28 showed two Chinese-Canadian scientists at the lab, vaccine research chief Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Chang, maintained secret contacts with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and kept a Chinese bank account. So far laboratory managers, Health Minister Mark Holland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc have been summoned to testify. “We finally got the documents relating to the Winnipeg lab. My view is this is the start of the matter, not the end,” said Conservative MP Michael Chong to the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.“Why wasn’t this caught earlier? It’s a grave and serious matter”“A government scientist clandestinely collaborated with the government and the military of the People’s Republic of China and was paid clandestinely.”A committee majority passed MP Chong’s motion that it “undertake a study of the matters revealed in the Winnipeg lab documents with the broader concerns they represent in relation to Canada’s national security as well as the obstacles encountered in obtaining these documents.” MPs had sought the report since before the 2021 election. “We need to examine why it took us three years to get the documents,” said MP Chong.Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi, parliamentary secretary for health, complained the investigation was too aggressive.“The optics are bad, to tell potential witnesses if they don’t show up they’ll get an arrest warrant against them,” said Naqvi.“This cannot turn into a political show. This cannot turn into a process where members are trying to just score political points. This is about foreign interference. This is about national security.”Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure pointed out federal executives ignored four separate requests for the report into security breaches at the Microbiology Laboratory. “Look at how much time it’s taken us to get to this point,” said Villemure.“There is an increasing trend with witnesses who don’t want to appear and they don’t give any reason or pretext. This wasn’t the case previously but increasingly it appears to be the state of affairs. It’s sad. It’s unfortunate. If we have to create a precedent here, well let’s create a precedent.”Chair of the Committee on Canada-China Relations Liberal MP Ken Hardie said he expected there would be wide public interest in the hearings. “The evidence I am sure will be fascinating. I will be as interested as you to find out exactly what happened and why,” said Hardie.
The Trudeau Liberals tried and failed to block expedited hearings into why Cabinet concealed evidence of Chinese security breaches at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, per Blacklock’s Reporter. A 614-page report made public February 28 showed two Chinese-Canadian scientists at the lab, vaccine research chief Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Chang, maintained secret contacts with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and kept a Chinese bank account. So far laboratory managers, Health Minister Mark Holland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc have been summoned to testify. “We finally got the documents relating to the Winnipeg lab. My view is this is the start of the matter, not the end,” said Conservative MP Michael Chong to the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.“Why wasn’t this caught earlier? It’s a grave and serious matter”“A government scientist clandestinely collaborated with the government and the military of the People’s Republic of China and was paid clandestinely.”A committee majority passed MP Chong’s motion that it “undertake a study of the matters revealed in the Winnipeg lab documents with the broader concerns they represent in relation to Canada’s national security as well as the obstacles encountered in obtaining these documents.” MPs had sought the report since before the 2021 election. “We need to examine why it took us three years to get the documents,” said MP Chong.Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi, parliamentary secretary for health, complained the investigation was too aggressive.“The optics are bad, to tell potential witnesses if they don’t show up they’ll get an arrest warrant against them,” said Naqvi.“This cannot turn into a political show. This cannot turn into a process where members are trying to just score political points. This is about foreign interference. This is about national security.”Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure pointed out federal executives ignored four separate requests for the report into security breaches at the Microbiology Laboratory. “Look at how much time it’s taken us to get to this point,” said Villemure.“There is an increasing trend with witnesses who don’t want to appear and they don’t give any reason or pretext. This wasn’t the case previously but increasingly it appears to be the state of affairs. It’s sad. It’s unfortunate. If we have to create a precedent here, well let’s create a precedent.”Chair of the Committee on Canada-China Relations Liberal MP Ken Hardie said he expected there would be wide public interest in the hearings. “The evidence I am sure will be fascinating. I will be as interested as you to find out exactly what happened and why,” said Hardie.
