Scientists fired from Winnipeg lab are still under investigation, Public Safety Minister says

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Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the RCMP is continuing to investigate two scientists fired from Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg for allegedly working secretly with the Chinese military.

Mr. LeBlanc said in testimony Monday night before the Special Committee on Canada-People's Republic of China Relations that he could not provide further information on the status of the national security investigation. Winnipeg Lab.

“Now they are investigating,” said the minister. “It would not be appropriate to comment on other specifics.”

Declassified documents reviewed by the House of Commons in late February revealed that Xiang Qiu and Keding Chen provided classified scientific information to China and that Canada's security intelligence service linked Dr. Qiu to multiple talent recruitment programs run by the Chinese government.

The Globe and Mail revealed in March that the pair were now working in China, where Dr. Qiu was collaborating with researchers from the People's Liberation Army. The couple, who use the pseudonyms Sandra Chiu and Kaiting Cheng, conduct research at prestigious institutions in China and with the country's most famous scientists.

The two scientists were fired after it was discovered they had secret meetings with Chinese officials. Dr. Qiu posed a “real and credible threat to the economic security of Canada,” investigators said, while Mr. Cheng posed “a very significant and credible security threat to the Canadian government.”

The couple were removed from the National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and their security clearances were later revoked. They were fired in January 2021.

Mr. LeBlanc admitted that the two scientists posed a threat to national security because they had access to highly classified information from a Level 4 infectious disease laboratory, information they were supposed to send to China.

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NDP MP Charlie Angus said he was shocked to learn Dr. Qiu and Health Canada approved the transportation of the deadly Ebola and Henipa viruses on an Air Canada flight, even though he had been warned by PHAC that he and his husband could be safe. risks.

“How did it happen?” asked Mr. Angus. “They came out with the Ebola virus and got on the plane. How could they be on a plane with deadly viruses?”

He asked why no one was fired or disciplined for what happened.

Conservative MP Michael Cooper said an explanation needed to be given as to why it took three and a half months to suspend the two scientists after the incident, and why the agency and CSIS had information about their cooperation with the Chinese military. He called Dr. Qiu and Mr. Chen “agents of Beijing.”

“On March 23, 2019, PHAC learned that these scientists were working with the People's Liberation Army. This is a level 4 lab. It should be the highest security laboratory in Canada,” he said. “Shouldn't they have been sent off the next day?”

Mr. LeBlanc said he was asked the same questions about the transmission of viruses and other allegations, but did not tell the committee how it happened. It's up to the Health Minister and the Public Health Agency of Canada to answer, he said.

He admitted that it was a security failure not to admit that the two scientists were helping China.

In testimony last week, Health Secretary Mark Holland called the actions of the two scientists “a lie”, saying they had been fired for “lying”. But he said PHAC can't be blamed.

“The Public Health Agency has done the right thing in this process to respond to these lies and misinformation,” he told the committee.

Mr. Cooper raised concerns last week that Dr. Qiu was allowed to transfer the deadly Ebola virus from a Winnipeg lab to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in October 2018, even though PHAC already knew it was named in a Chinese patent. suspicious. He was also flagged by the head of the Winnipeg lab as a potential national security threat to CSIS.

“Why in the world, with this knowledge, would PHAC transport deadly pathogens to Wuhan at the request of a scientist who at the time knew PHAC was a potential threat to national security?” he asked.

Mr. Holland responded that the transfer was made with PHAC's “full knowledge and full cooperation” in the interest of “advancing the protection of our species against Ebola contagion.”

PHAC President Heather Jeffrey said safety has improved significantly since the two scientists were fired.

In addition to enhanced security controls, the high-security lab has strict procedures for documenting and inspecting infectious materials, including transport agreements and collaborative research agreements, Ms. Jeffrey said.