Liberal Health Minister Mark Holland insisted Chinese spies working at the Winnipeg National Microbiology Laboratory deserved “due process” before firing them, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. Scientists with links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came under surveillance in August 2018 but remained on the job until July 2019.“We have due process,” Holland testified at the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. The scientists at the Winnipeg lab “were seen as being leaders in helping to save lives,” he said.“If you are making an accusation against somebody and these people’s careers rightfully are destroyed, before you destroy somebody’s career they are entitled to due process. Due process is important in this country.”“These were employees who were long term employees, 2003 and 2006. I mean, these are Canadian citizens, eminent scientists.”Conservative MP Michael Cooper asked the health minister if he “think(s) they were eminent scientists or eminent spies?”Holland gave no response. “Nobody else will be fired, correct?” asked Cooper. “I am not aware of anybody else being fired,” replied Holland.The Chinese Canadian scientists “posed a very serious and credible danger to the Government of Canada as a whole and in particular at facilities considered high security due to the potential for theft of dangerous materials attractive to terrorist and foreign entities,” said a 2020 document entitled, Report On Review For Cause Of Security Status by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The report was not disclosed to MPs until February 28.Bloc Québécois MP Stéphane Bergeron slammed the Trudeau Liberals for appearing “naïve” on the world stage for choosing to approach the Chinese scientists’ security status as a human resources matter. “For the past 20 years the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has been alerting government authorities to the fact the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is increasingly aggressive,” said Bergeron.CSIS director David Vigneault told the committee his agents in August 2018 warned the Canadian Public Health Agency its two scientists were in contact with the Chinese army’s bioweapons program and maintained a Chinese bank account.“The PRC has been bold in its attempts to threaten Canada’s security, prosperity and research through strategic espionage and foreign interference,” testified Vigneault.“How do you assess PRC espionage activities in Canada?” asked Conservative MP Michael Chong.“Because of the organized, systematic approach and capabilities of the People’s Republic of China we assess the PRC as the most significant espionage threat against our country,” replied Vigneault.
