Experts have raised concerns with the shipping of samples of lethal viruses from Canada to Chinese labs, as many fear they may be used in secret Chinese bioweapons programs.

Samples of the Ebola virus and those from the henipavirus family were sent to China in March as part of a Canadian effort to support contagious disease research abroad. Some have warned that such transfers may be dangerous considering China’s alleged research in biological weapons.

“I would say this Canadian ‘contribution’ might likely be counterproductive,” said Dany Shoham, an Israeli biological weapons expert. 

“I think the Chinese activities are highly suspicious, in terms of exploring (at least) those viruses as (biological weapons) agents.”

China has been long believed to be developing a biological weapons program. The U.S. State Department and security experts are almost certain China is looking to weaponize diseases like Ebola.

Concerns about security have since increased after the recent removal of Chinese researchers working in Canada by the RCMP.

Xiangguo Qiu, an Ebola researcher at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML), and her husband who is also a researcher were escorted out of their labs by authorities in early July. A Public Health Canada spokesman said their removal was related to “possible policy breaches.”

The RCMP investigation remains open, but nothing has been revealed to the public about what exactly happened.

Since the election of the Liberal government in 2015, Chinese-Canadian relations have hit rock bottom.The arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou resulted in a number of retaliatory tactics by Beijing, including the arrest and detainment of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Meng Wanzhou faces fraud charges over breaking US and EU sanctions by doing business with Iran. 

China has come under fire in recent months for its handling of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and its mass internment of Chinese Muslims in the far west of the country.

Neither the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory or the federal government have announced whether or not similar shipments of biological agents will be occurring in the future. 

Terrorism experts are warning that ISIS may be planning attacks in Western countries as the group seeks to return to prominence. 

Last week Jean-Charles Brisard, president of the French Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism, told RTL radio listeners that ISIS is still an active threat despite the loss of territory in the Middle East.

“We know for a fact that ISIS will launch one or several terrorist attacks in the West to prove it still exists and to mobilize its troops,” he said. 

“They [ISIS] still poses a real threat”. 

The United Nations and the American government are both warning that ISIS cells around the world, including Western countries, are planning attacks for the near future.

“This threat must be taken seriously. ISIS suffered major territorial losses and needs the world to know it is still very much active,” Brisard added.

A UN report from July noted that the 30,000 foreigners who joined ISIS and their dependents who survived the collapse of ISIS in the Middle East could try to continue the fight around the world. The UN called these individuals an “international concern for the foreseeable future.”

Surprisingly, while UN security experts warn of the massive threat former ISIS members pose, UN bureaucrats have consistently called for Canada to repatriate terrorists who hold Canadian passports.

The Canadian government estimates “about 60” ISIS fighters have returned to Canada, with many more potentially returning in the future.

Reports indicate that the government is actively looking for ways to bring ISIS fighters back to Canada.

Canadian law enforcement recognizes the threat returning ISIS fighters pose, but have admitted they may not be able to monitor or prosecute them.

“We may not be in a position, as each and every one of them comes back to Canada, that we’re at that stage where we can arrest them,” said RCMP Deputy Commissioner Denis Michaud.

Despite territorial loss, ISIS continues to attack innocent civilians abroad. In April ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre of 359 Christians during Easter Sunday services in Sri Lanka. 

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion issued a scathing report this morning, indicating that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau broke ethics rules in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Dion says Trudeau used his position of authority over the former Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to seek to influence her decision on whether she should overrule the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision on SNC-Lavalin.

“The authority of the Prime Minister and his office was used to circumvent, undermine and attempt to discredit the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions as well as the authority of Ms. Wilson‑Raybould as the Crown’s chief law officer,” wrote the Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion in his report.

Trudeau is the first Prime Minister in Canadian history to have broken a federal law while in office. However, this isn’t the first time for Trudeau. The Prime Minister violated the Conflict of Interest Act in 2017 when he accepted a trip to the Aga Khan’s private island.

Dion’s report outlines a number of troubling instances on how the Trudeau government conducted itself in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

The ethics report describes how Trudeau and the Privy Council Office denied the ethics commissioner access to some witnesses and documents. The government refused to expand cabinet privilege waiver, despite relevant evidence being available.

In addition, it was revealed in the report that SNC-Lavalin had tremendous influence over the government. It was SNC-Lavalin that originally suggested to the government that a budget implementation bill should be used to introduce deferred prosecution agreements to Canada. As a result, in 2018, the government quietly introduced legislation to provide for deferred prosecution agreements in Canada in the government’s 582-page budget legislation.

The former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould released a statement shortly after the ethics report was released. In her statement, Wilson-Raybould says, “The report confirms critical facts, consistent with what I shared with all Canadians, and affirms the position I have taken from the outset”.

The SNC-Lavalin affair began in February 2019 when the Globe and Mail reported that sources close to the government said that the Prime Minister’s Office allegedly had attempted to influence Wilson-Raybould concerning an ongoing prosecution of SNC-Lavalin while she was Minister of Justice and Attorney General. 

New records show some of Canada’s biggest media companies have received millions from the federal government in untendered contracts predating the $595 million media bailout fund.

Among some of the sizable contracts for media monitoring – known as clipping – given out without tender are $195,840 to the National Observer, $2,005,847 to the Globe & Mail and $5,551,698 to Postmedia, according to a report from Blacklock’s Reporter.

Ironically, as Blacklock’s noted, at the same time the federal government was giving out millions to print papers, it dramatically cut government advertisements in the same papers. Only around 0.002 per cent of all federal advertisements in print newspapers in 2018.

One of the biggest critics of these clipping contracts is former five-term Liberal MP Joe Volpe, now the publisher of an Italian-language newspaper. Volpe has lambasted the contracts for being excessively generous and favouring a small group of established media companies.

Along with large government contracts, several media companies are already enjoying the benefits of the government’s $595 million bailout of the print media industry.

Earlier this month True North reported that Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, is already supplementing its income with $115,000 a week in subsides from the media bailout.

Since the revelation of these contracts, royal assent was given to Bill C-97, which gives “qualified” companies a 25 per cent rebate on salaries of newsroom employees, and a tax credit for subscribers of these companies, giving approved media a clear advantage over other companies. 

With groups like left-wing labour union Unifor helping select what is considered “qualified” journalism, critics have argued that the media bailout will heavily affect coverage of the federal election this fall.

A man accused of providing material support for ISIS after robbing an Edmonton jewelry store has had his extradition to the United States postponed by the Canadian Justice Minister, David Lametti.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking to have Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi extradited to the United States to face charges for providing aid to a number of terrorists, including three of his cousins who joined ISIS.

According to Ian McLeod, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, the delay will mean that Abdullahi will be first tried in Canada for armed robbery charges before being turned over to U.S. authorities. 

“Should he be convicted in Canada and sentenced to a period of custody, the surrender order will prevail over the completion of the Canadian sentence,” said McLeod. 

“At the completion of his U.S. proceedings and any custodial sentence he may receive if convicted in the U.S., he would be required to serve any remaining period on his Canadian sentence.”

He is believed to have wired money for two American citizens to travel overseas to participate in terrorist activities. The 34-year old is also believed to have intended on joining the rest of his family to fight for ISIS.

On January 9, 2014, Abudllahi robbed an Edmonton jewelry store with two others in order to use the theft’s proceeds to fund ISIS overseas. 

He was then later arrested by Canadian officials several years later in Fort McMurray on Sept 15, 2017.

 Abdullahi is currently waiting trial, which will begin on January 13, 2020.