A parliamentary committee in the House of Commons has decided to investigate the security screening procedures in Canada following the arrest of a Canadian NATO intern in Belgium on charges of espionage. The move comes after the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois requested an emergency committee meeting to look into the spying allegations against the intern.
During a meeting of the public safety and national security committee on Monday, Members of Parliament from various parties agreed to prioritize meeting three times to delve into the issue when Parliament reconvenes in September. The committee plans to summon Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree as a witness and may call other relevant witnesses. The findings and recommendations will be reported to the House.
Although the identity of the defendant in the Belgian criminal investigation is typically not disclosed, a CBC News investigation revealed that the accused spy is Biwei Zhang, a systems engineer with an economics background who was interning at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.
It was discovered through the investigation that Biwei Zhang is the legal name of the suspect, who professionally goes by Claire Zhang and uses the name Catina Zhang on her Facebook profile. Belgian authorities suspect Zhang of espionage for a foreign country and allege her involvement in a criminal organization.
The scrutiny into Canada’s security screening processes has intensified, with Conservative public safety critic Frank Caputo urging parliamentary scrutiny into the matter. Caputo raised concerns about how an individual accused of spying managed to secure an internship within a critical military alliance and questioned the security screening, information-sharing, and monitoring processes in place at that time.
The intern at NATO, Biwei Zhang, had to undergo a thorough security clearance for her internship, a process overseen by Canadian authorities, specifically the RCMP and CSIS, due to her Canadian citizenship.
Following the arrest of the alleged spy by Belgian authorities, Canada’s public safety minister vowed to investigate the situation thoroughly, citing the gravity of the charges. Prime Minister Mark Carney affirmed that Canadian officials have been actively involved in the case from the beginning.
CBC News uncovered that Zhang had held positions in various Canadian government departments, having worked as an economist at Statistics Canada and a systems engineer at the Canadian Space Agency. In 2023, a federal judge dismissed Zhang’s application for a judicial review after she was found to have committed fraud by applying for a position at the Canada Border Services Agency under multiple identities.
Zhang’s professional history includes roles at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and the European Space Agency in Italy. She recently completed a master’s degree in computer science specializing in artificial intelligence at the University of Ottawa. The day before her arrest on charges of espionage and involvement in a criminal organization, Belgian authorities searched Zhang’s residence and workplace at SHAPE.
