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A House of Commons committee agreed to examine Canada’s security screening processes as a Canadian NATO intern arrested by Belgian officials is facing espionage charges.
The decision comes days after the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois called for an emergency committee meeting to probe the spying allegations against the Canadian intern.
At the public safety and national security committee meeting on Monday, MPs collaborated across party lines, agreeing to prioritize convening three times to study the issue when Parliament returns in September.
The committee will call Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree as a witness, and invite any other witnesses it deems necessary. It will then report its findings and recommendations to the House.
While Belgian courts do not publicly identify defendants in criminal investigations until the trial, a CBC News investigation identified the accused spy as Biwei Zhang, a systems engineer with a background in economics who was an intern at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in the Belgian city of Mons.
The investigation determined Biwei Zhang is the suspect’s legal name, but that she uses the name Claire Zhang professionally and Catina Zhang on her Facebook profile.
Belgian authorities suspect Zhang of spying on behalf of a third country and of being part of a criminal organization.
Questions raised over Canada’s security screening
Conservative public safety critic Frank Caputo sent an open letter to the public safety committee chair on Thursday, calling for “parliamentary scrutiny,” given the seriousness of the allegations against Zhang.
“These allegations raise urgent questions about how an individual now accused of spying was able to obtain an internship within one of Canada’s most important military alliances and what security screening, information-sharing and monitoring processes were in place at the time,” Caputo said in the statement.
WATCH | Allegations raise questions over Canada’s screening processes:
Canadian NATO spying suspect raises questions about country’s security screening
A CBC News investigation has identified Biwei Zhang as the Canadian woman recently arrested on suspicion of spying at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium. According to her online resume, Zhang previously worked for both the Canadian Space Agency and Statistics Canada prior to her NATO internship. The case has raised questions surrounding Canada’s security screening process for sensitive government roles.
The NATO internship Zhang obtained required a comprehensive security clearance, a background check which Canadian authorities — the RCMP and CSIS, specifically — would have been responsible for conducting, given she is a Canadian national.
Government promises answers
Days after Belgian authorities arrested the alleged spy, Canada’s public safety minister committed to “get to the bottom of what happened,” saying the charges are “quite serious.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney later said “Canadian officials have been involved from the start.”
“It’s an active investigation, so I’m limited in what I can say,” Carney said.
Who is the Canadian accused of spying?
CBC News also found the former NATO intern had held positions within the Canadian government across multiple departments.
Based on her online resumé, the investigation found Zhang had previously worked as an economist at Statistics Canada and as a systems engineer at the Canadian Space Agency.
In 2023, the Public Service Commission of Canada found Zhang had committed fraud by applying for a position at the Canada Border Services Agency under two different names and emails, failing to later clarify whether she submitted multiple applications. Zhang requested a judicial review and a federal judge dismissed her application in 2024.
WATCH | CBC investigation identifies Canadian intern facing spying charges:
CBC News identifies Canadian intern accused of spying on NATO
A CBC News investigation has identified Biwei Zhang as the Canadian intern at NATO who is facing espionage charges. She previously held positions at the World Trade Organization, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and Statistics Canada.
According to her resumé, Zhang also held positions at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and the European Space Agency in Italy. She recently graduated with a master’s of computer science with a specialization in artificial intelligence from the University of Ottawa.
The day before Belgian authorities arrested the suspect on “espionage and participation in a criminal organization,” her home and workplace at SHAPE were searched, according to a media release from the country’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office.