Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the Trudeau government of compromising national security and colluding with Beijing, alleging that the Chinese government assisted Trudeau in winning the 2021 snap election on Thursday.
Polievre made the accusations in response to newly released documents which reveal that two scientists working in Canada’s top microbiology lab were covertly working with Beijing.
“Under Justin Trudeau’s watch, the PRC and its entities, including the People’s Liberation Army, were allowed to infiltrate Canada’s top level lab. They were able to transfer sensitive intellectual property and dangerous pathogens to the PRC,” reads a statement released by Poilievre.
“Based on its own assessment, the Liberal government allowed a person who is “a very serious and credible danger” and “a realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security” to access and compromise our country’s top level lab, which works with some of the world’s most dangerous viruses, such as Ebola.”
When news of this first leaked to the media via largely redacted documents in 2021, the Trudeau government promptly called a snap election.
After a further release of the documents, Poilievre is now accusing Trudeau of calling the election in an attempt to cover up the massive national security breach.
“This is a massive national security failure by Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government, which he fought tooth and nail to cover up, including defying four parliamentary orders and taking the House of Commons Speaker to court. He cannot be trusted to keep our people and our country safe,” wrote Poilievre.
“Common Sense Conservatives are studying every single page of these explosive documents and will not stop until Canadians know the truth about this unprecedented and terrifying security breach.”
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service discovered that two scientists fired from Canada’s most secure microbiology lab in Winnipeg covertly worked with labs run by the Chinese government and also collaborated with “institutions whose goals have potentially lethal military applications.”
The documents, which remain redacted in parts, reveal that Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng were removed from the lash in 2019 and then later fired in 2021.
CSIS made recommendations to the Public Health Agency of Canada to revoke security clearances from both scientists.
“The Service assess that Ms. Qiu developed deep, cooperative relationships with a variety of People’s Republic of China institutions and has intentionally transferred scientific knowledge and materials to China in order to benefit the PRC government,” reads a letter to the PHAC from CISI in January 2021, wherein the recommendation was made.
According to CSIS, Qiu was likely hired by the lab through China’s Thousand Talents Program, a government-sponsored program designed to recruit Chinese experts to come work in Western countries.
Qiu’s position was connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Qiu’s CV made no mention of the fact that she was a visiting professor with several Chinese institutions which she repeatedly lied about when asked.
“Qiu continued to make blanket denials, feign ignorance or tell outright lies,” reads the CSIS letter.
CSIS informed PHAC in July 2020 that they found Cheng’s position at the lab also suspicious, as he was hired under similar circumstances.
“Despite being given ample opportunities to provide truthful statements to the interviewers, regarding topics of concern relating to his security clearance, the service assesses that Mr. Cheng failed to tell the truth in areas where he most needed to,” wrote CSIS at the time.
Qiu was also found to have shared scientific data that came from the Winnipeg lab without the necessary authorization to do so by PHAC’s National Security Management Division in 2018.
It remains unknown whether or not Qie and Cheng are still living in Canada.
The Trudeau government fought in Parliament to keep these documents from being released, citing national security concerns.
The Liberals even went as far as to sue the Speaker of the House of Commons in court to stop him from releasing them.
Eventually, the Liberals agreed to allow for an ad-hoc committee of opposition MP’s to review the documents to resolve disputes over its redacted portions before a panel of judges.
“The information appears to be mostly about protecting the organization from embarrassment for failures in policy and implementation, not legitimate national security concerns, and its release is essential to hold the government to account,” wrote the opposition MPs.
Liberal Health Minister Mark Holland defended the long, drawn-out process to release the documents, saying that it was in the name of national security, according to the National Post.
Poilievre called it an “unprecedented and terrifying security breach.”
“A Pierre Poilievre government will secure our labs and all of our government assets against these sorts of national security breaches and will stand on guard for our country to make sure this never happens again,” he wrote.
