Canada-China relations committee questions witnesses on Winnipeg lab intelligence breach

Federal Health Minister Mark Holland suggested on Monday that there are gaps in the early stages of screening scientists at secret-level facilities such as the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg.

Holland told the House of Commons special committee on Canada-China relations there is a «responsibility of those individuals to disclose their engagements and affiliations.»

He added: «It is possible to lie and create that space to propagate misinformation and that was the case unfortunately,» referring to the case of Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng, who were escorted out of the NML in July 2019, and later had their security clearances revoked. They were officially dismissed in January 2021.

The committee was on Monday questioning key witnesses after studying the release of federal documents related to their dismissals.

As a Level 4 lab, the NML is equipped to work with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases, including pathogens like Ebola, which require the highest level of containment.

According to documents tabled by the federal government, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had concluded in 2020 Qiu was «intentionally» sharing scientific information and materials with China — potentially putting people's health in jeopardy.

Documents disclosed earlier from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) show its National Security Management Division was advised in September 2018 that Qiu had been listed as the inventor on a Chinese patent that might have contained scientific information produced at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health (CSCHAH) in Winnipeg — and that she shared that data without authority.

Qiu, then head of vaccines and antivirals with the