Finally info released years later... The two scientists fired from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg failed to disclose their interactions with Chinese entities, and didn’t protect sensitive information and assets, newly released documents show.
The government tabled the long-awaited documents on Feb. 28 after four years of not disclosing why the scientists were fired, citing privacy and national security concerns.
Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were escorted out of the high-security Winnipeg lab in July 2019, and had their security clearances revoked. The couple were subsequently fired in January 2021.
“The employees in question were involved in a variety of different scientific enterprises that were not disclosed, information was not given, and that they had relationships that they ... didn’t provide information [on],” said Health Minister Mark Holland at a press conference on Feb. 28. Mr. Holland’s department oversees the Public Health Agency of Canada, which oversees the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg.
“The relationships that they had included concerns, or that there may be connection to their involvement with China as an example.”
It took the government four years to release the partially redacted documents on the firing of the two scientists.
During the previous session of the Parliament, the government took the extraordinary step of taking the speaker of the House of Commons to court in 2021 to prevent the release of the documents. The court case was dropped after the Parliament was dissolved once an election was called that year.
In the new Parliament after the 2021 election, the Liberal government initially proposed to release the documents to MPs from different parties at the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. However, this was opposed by the Conservatives, saying that this special committee reports to the prime minister rather than the parliamentarians.
The Liberals subsequently formed an ad-hoc committee of MPs from different parties to review the documents before public disclosure.
At the Feb. 28 press conference, Mr. Holland said there was a “lack of adherence to security protocols” at the lab.
“I think that there was an inadequate understanding of the threat of foreign interference,” Mr. Holland said. “Unfortunately, there were employees who were dishonest about some of their engagements.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
The government tabled the long-awaited documents on Feb. 28 after four years of not disclosing why the scientists were fired, citing privacy and national security concerns.
Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were escorted out of the high-security Winnipeg lab in July 2019, and had their security clearances revoked. The couple were subsequently fired in January 2021.
“The employees in question were involved in a variety of different scientific enterprises that were not disclosed, information was not given, and that they had relationships that they ... didn’t provide information [on],” said Health Minister Mark Holland at a press conference on Feb. 28. Mr. Holland’s department oversees the Public Health Agency of Canada, which oversees the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg.
“The relationships that they had included concerns, or that there may be connection to their involvement with China as an example.”
It took the government four years to release the partially redacted documents on the firing of the two scientists.
During the previous session of the Parliament, the government took the extraordinary step of taking the speaker of the House of Commons to court in 2021 to prevent the release of the documents. The court case was dropped after the Parliament was dissolved once an election was called that year.
In the new Parliament after the 2021 election, the Liberal government initially proposed to release the documents to MPs from different parties at the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. However, this was opposed by the Conservatives, saying that this special committee reports to the prime minister rather than the parliamentarians.
The Liberals subsequently formed an ad-hoc committee of MPs from different parties to review the documents before public disclosure.
At the Feb. 28 press conference, Mr. Holland said there was a “lack of adherence to security protocols” at the lab.
“I think that there was an inadequate understanding of the threat of foreign interference,” Mr. Holland said. “Unfortunately, there were employees who were dishonest about some of their engagements.”
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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