Thunder Bay, ON – A Conservative-led motion to investigate a serious security breach at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg was blocked yesterday by Liberal and NDP Members of Parliament. The breach potentially compromised highly sensitive information, posing a credible security risk to Canada.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong sought to probe how scientists Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng managed to send confidential information to China, even after concerns about their behavior had been flagged.
In response, Liberal MP Iqra Khalid moved for immediate adjournment of the committee hearings. Khalid accused the Conservatives of political maneuvering and insisted that security enhancements at the Winnipeg lab were already implemented years ago. Khalid’s motion, terminating further investigation, received support from Liberal colleagues and NDP MP Matthew Green.
This development raises troubling questions about the transparency and accountability of the Canadian government regarding national security matters. The public deserves a full understanding of how such a breach occurred and the measures taken to prevent future incidents.
Michael Chong, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, released the following statement on the vote by Liberal and NDP MPs at the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, to obstruct further investigation into the Trudeau government’s national security failures recently revealed in the Winnipeg lab documents:
“Today Liberal and NDP MPs voted together, at an emergency meeting of the Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee, to obstruct our attempt to examine why national security breaches at the government’s Winnipeg lab went undetected for so long, why it took 10 months to secure the lab on July 5, 2019, and why it took three years for the government to hand over documents Parliament ordered be delivered in 2021.
“The Trudeau government covered up these national security breaches. First, it defied four orders of Parliament. Then, it sued the Speaker of the House of Commons. Finally, it called a snap election, which had the effect of dissolving the four orders. Every effort was made to prevent the release of the documents. Now the documents have finally been released, the government is again trying to cover things up, this time with the support of the NDP.”
