After Trudeau shuts down committee investigation into China lab spying scandal, Conservatives find another option
David Krayden
Another Parliamentary committee to investigate China spying at national microbiology lab
After the Liberals shut down the Parliamentary ethics committee’s investigation into Chinese spying at a top-secret biological lab in Winnipeg, the Official Opposition Conservatives have found another committee to investigate the matter. At issue is why two Chinese scientists at the Winnipeg National Microbiology Laboratory were able to send classified material back to China while conducting research on Canadian soil.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has strongly condemned the inaction of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his obdurate refusal to release any of the 600 pages of documents relating to the firing of two scientists at the microbiology lab – Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng – who the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said were relaying classified documents and materials to communist China – including that country’s People’s Liberation Army. These pages were finally released last month.
When Conservative members of the ethics committee attempted to begin an investigation into the apparent espionage, Liberal and NDP members united to block the action. But on Tuesday, MPs on the Special Committee on the Canada-People’s Republic of China Relationship Committee agreed to proceed with that investigation.