Liberals propose new committee with arbiters to study firing of scientists at Winnipeg lab
Turnball, S. (Dec. 2, 2021). CTV News. Retrieved
from: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/liberals-propose-new-committee-with-arbiters-to-study-firing-of-scientists-at-winnipeg-lab-1.5691435
OTTAWA -- The government is proposing the creation of a
new House of Commons committee, advised by a panel of three former senior
judges, to comb through sensitive material relating to the firing of two
scientists at Canada’s highest-security laboratory.
A letter signed by Government House Leader Mark Holland on Thursday, and
penned to his counterparts across the aisle, states that while the government
maintains this information is best held with National Security and Intelligence
Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), they are open to find a solution.
The proposal would allow this new group of MPs to gain access to
unredacted documents pertaining to the questions surrounding the laboratory in
Winnipeg.
Opposition parties have long fought for answers as to
why Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and Dr. Keding Cheng were escorted out of Winnipeg’s
National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and terminated 18 months later by
the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
There are also concerns and questions about whether their terminations are
connected to the fact that four months before their removal, Qiu sent a
shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to China's Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Former PHAC president Iain Stewart has offered no insight into the matter
and was publicly admonished in the House of Commons in late June for failing to
turn over the documents in question.
Former minister of health Patty Hajdu had referred the matter and provided
the documents to NSICOP, which includes members from the House and the Senate,
and has a mandate to analyze any activity carried out by a department that
relates to national security or intelligence.
“The NSICOP has a proven track record as a body that works in a
collaborative and non-partisan fashion. It has shown it can work well for
Canadians,” a letter reads.
“Unfortunately, opposition parties in the House disagreed with the
referral of this matter to NSICOP.”
The Liberals suggest they’ve found a “responsible and democratic”
solution, one that was employed by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2010
to resolve calls by MPs who wanted access to documents related to the treatment
of detainees in Afghanistan.
The government and opposition parties would, if agreed upon, sign a
memorandum of understanding to create the ad-hoc committee, “with appropriate
safeguards,” to review the documents.
The panel of arbiters would then determine “relevant and necessary
information” could be made public while also weighing national security risk.
“Members of the ad-hoc committee would conduct their business within a secure
government facility and be subject to appropriate security measures to safeguard
the sensitive and confidential information. The committee and panel would be
supported by security-cleared, non-partisan public servants,” the letter reads.
Where there is disagreement over what should be released, the judges would
step in.
“The panel of arbiters would make a binding determination regarding how
that information could be made available to members of Parliament and the
public without comprising national security, national defence, or international
relations,” the letter reads.
Holland said the proposition recognizes the role of the House in holding the government to account, while also respecting its job in keeping Canadians safe.
