OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Mark Carney must explain how Biwei Zhang, a Canadian citizen accused of espionage by Belgian authorities, was able to pass Canada's security screening, while renewing calls for Ottawa to designate the Iran-backed group Kata'ib Hezbollah as a terrorist entity.Speaking at a news conference in St. John's on Thursday, Poilievre questioned why Canadian authorities did not identify the alleged security risk before Belgium arrested the individual on espionage charges. The criticism also follows reporting that Zhang had previously been found by the Public Service Commission to have committed fraud during a federal hiring process after allegedly falsofying information during a job competition, raising further questions about how she later obtained the security clearance required for a NATO posting. Zhang unsuccessfully challenged the commission's decision in Federal court which dismissed her application for judicial review in August 2024, leaving the finding in place. “How is it that this individual was not captured in the vetting process originally, but that other countries and governments were able to have the intelligence to find this troubling information?” Poilievre said.He argued Canada has repeatedly learned about national security threats through the actions of foreign governments rather than its own intelligence agencies.“Why is it that we keep learning about national security threats to our country from foreign governments?” he said.“After a year of Mark Carney, our country is becoming a playground for foreign interference and international crime and terrorism.”.Poilievre said the prime minister “has a lot of explaining to do” over what he described as a failure to properly vet the individual before Canadian allies uncovered the alleged espionage activity.The Conservative leader also linked the case to his party's recent call for the federal government to list Kata'ib Hezbollah as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code.He pointed to allegations contained in a U.S. FBI court filing that the Iran-backed militia was involved in shootings in Canada and the United States.“We have the IRGC-related group, Kata'ib Hezbollah, which has now been named in court filing by the FBI as having been involved in two shootings in Canada, another 14 in the United States of America, and somehow Mr. Carney refuses to ban this terrorist organization,” Poilievre said. “They're able to operate with impunity on Canadian soil, harassing our Persian and Jewish communities and threatening all of us.”Poilievre concluded by urging the government to strengthen Canada's response to foreign threats. “It's time for Mark Carney to stop with the illusions and start taking real action to keep our country safe from foreign threats on our soil,” he said.
