When two Chinese scientists were escorted out of Canada’s top microbiology lab during the pandemic and then fired, the federal government cited it was for national security reasons.

 

 

But the day after hundreds of pages of documents were released, showing the scientists played down their collaborations with Chinese government agencies, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the documents prove the prime minister mishandled what turned out to be a major national security failure.

”Trudeau, what did he do when he found out about this? Did he immediately inform Canadians of the breach? Did he fire anybody? No. No one was fired,” Poilievre observed.

”Did he call an inquiry to get to the bottom of it? No. He didn’t do that either. Instead, he covered it all up.”

The prime minister says Canada needs to stay vigilant to keep our research institutions safe.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says it’s taken steps to improve research security, including setting out clear training and communication on security and employee accountability.