Parliamentarians could finally get a look at documents related to the firing of two scientists from Canada’s highest security laboratory — which the Liberals went to court to keep secret — under a new deal offered by the government.
Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were escorted out of Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and later fired.
The government refuses to reveal why they were fired.
The National Post has previously reported that Qiu collaborated with Chinese government scientists on inventions patented in Beijing, but closely related to her job in the lab, even though federal civil servants are not allowed to file such patents.
The national microbiology lab is a secure facility that conducts research on some of the world’s most dangerous viruses, including ebola and tuberculosis.
The documents were first demanded by the House of Commons committee on Canada-China relations, but the government essentially ignored the request. A motion was then passed in the House calling for them to be presented but Iain Stewart, then president of the Public Health Health Agency of Canada, repeatedly argued that he was prevented by law from releasing material that could violate privacy or national security laws.
MPs specifically sought material related to the transfer, overseen by Qiu, of deadly Ebola and Henipah viruses to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in March 2019. That’s the lab some suspect released the coronavirus that triggered the pandemic.
Stewart assured MPs that the transfer had nothing to do with the firings of Qiu and her husband and that there was no connection to COVID-19.
The battle culminated in June with Stewart being hauled before the bar of the Commons to be reprimanded by the Speaker. A few days later, the government asked the Federal Court of Canada to intervene to stop the release of the documents, arguing they must be kept secret to protect national security.
The government dropped the case when the election was called in August since the order to produce the documents, along with all other business before the House, was terminated with the dissolution of Parliament. However, in one of the first moves when the Commons resumed sitting last week, the Conservatives asked Speaker Anthony Rota to rule that the government was in contempt of Parliament when it launched the court proceeding. Rota has not yet ruled on the matter but should he agree, the Conservatives intend to move a motion, supported by other opposition parties, to issue a warrant to seize the documents.
Liberal House Leader Mark Holland offered up a new proposal on Thursday, which could avoid the court case if opposition parties are prepared to play along, which he said is a balance and a compromise.
“The proposed model balances two key principles; first, accountability to Parliament by maximizing disclosure and transparency to the greatest extent that is possible, secondly the protection of sensitive and confidential information from disclosure where it would be injurious to our nation,” he said. ...
Under the deal, one MP from each party and one alternate would sit on a panel to review the documents and decide what information should be made public. The MPs would be selected by their parties, but they would have to pass a security clearance and read the documents in a secure room.
Any disputes among the MPs on what should be made public would go to a panel of three senior judges. The judges would be selected by the committee and would have the final say on whether information could be released.
Bullsh--.
Redacted documents poured over by handpicked and sympathetic MPs and decided on unelected judges and having nothing released to the public is another Liberal attempt at obfuscation.
The documents need to go public.
All of them.
Let's see how deep the Liberal Party is in Chinese interference.
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