Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once again finds himself in hot water because of new allegations he allowed two Chinese nationals to work at a prestigious virus lab and then covered it up to boost his reelection chances.
The New York Times published an extensive article on Feb. 29 laying out the details regarding the two scientists accursed of passing on secret scientific information to China, and one of them was a “realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security,” documents from the national intelligence agency and a security investigation show.
After a prolonged Parliamentary debate, details about two microbiology researchers who were found to have shared secrets with China have been released. https://t.co/MCG0DZigc9
— NYT Science (@NYTScience) March 1, 2024
Canadian intelligence officials have long warned that the country’s academic and research institutions are a target of Chinese intelligence campaigns. Rules have been tightened regarding collaboration, and Canadian colleges and universities can now be disqualified from federal funding if they enter into partnerships with a list of 100 foreign institutions in China, Russia and Iran.
The Times report said the release of the documents on the two lab scientists was the subject of a prolonged debate in Parliament that began before the last federal election, in September 2021. Opposition parties asked to see the records at least four times and found the Liberal government to be in contempt of Parliament in 2021. The newspaper said the government filed a lawsuit in an attempt to keep the records hidden but dropped it when the vote was called.
In a CBC report on Feb 29th, Trudeau deflected criticism of his actions regarding the scientists and instead countered with criticisms of the conservative lawmakers who continue to raise the allegations.
“Unfortunately, throughout this process we have seen the Conservative Party, specifically Pierre Poilievre, choosing to spew conspiracy theories and drum up political attacks, partisan attacks, on an issue that quite frankly should be bringing Canadians and parliamentarians together to try and solve this,” he said.
Trudeau is no stranger to controversy a remains a polarizing figure in Canadian politics. After eight years as Canada’s leader, a 2023 national poll showed two in five Canadians saying they approve of the prime minister, while slightly more than half answered that they disapprove. However, a full 40 percent said they “strongly disapprove.”
His actions during the 2022 anti-vaccine truck protests in Ottawa were widely viewed as heavy-handed. As early at 2013, Trudeau was criticized for comments praising China’s authoritarian government.
