Two men walk past the NATO logo during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7. Ottawa has faced questions from experts and former senior public servants about how the intern managed to gain security clearance to work at NATO.Hussein Malla/The Associated Press
MPs agreed Monday to launch an urgent probe into Ottawa’s security screening and monitoring protocols after a Canadian intern was arrested on suspicion of espionage at NATO’s headquarters in Belgium.
The public safety and national security committee decided to launch a study into how a former public servant, now suspected by Belgian prosecutors of spying on behalf of a third country, was able to obtain access to the military alliance’s headquarters.
The three-meeting study will begin before MPs officially return to the House of Commons from their summer break in late September. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, and other witnesses, will be called to give evidence.
Ottawa vetted NATO intern arrested on suspicion of espionage
The Conservatives want to call a roster of senior security experts to testify, including the head of Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and the Prime Minister’s national security and intelligence adviser.
At the emergency committee meeting Monday, Conservative MP Rhonda Kirkland argued that a probe was necessary to determine whether Canada had “missed warning signs or red flags” before the Canadian intern was given clearance to work at NATO’s operational base.
“Canadians deserve to know what security screening, for instance, was conducted before this individual was granted access to one of the world’s most sensitive military institutions. We need to understand what information someone like this individual would have access to, whether any sensitive material may have been compromised, and what steps can be taken,” Ms. Kirkland said during Monday’s committee meeting.
MPs discussed a motion that said the spying allegations “raise serious questions regarding how an individual now accused of espionage was able to obtain access to one of Canada’s most important military alliances.”
The motion said the committee should investigate “the security-screening, information-sharing, and monitoring processes that were in place.”
Belgium residents react to arrest of Canadian NATO intern
The intern, identified by Belgian authorities as a Canadian national of Chinese origin, was working at the military alliance’s command centre, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), in the southern Belgian city of Mons when she was arrested and detained in custody last month.
The Belgian prosecutor’s office said, after her arrest, that she had come to the attention of SHAPE’s security services, which reported their concerns to the country’s military intelligence agency.
Belgian authorities have not released her name, but a national security source identified her to The Globe and Mail as Biwei Zhang, who also goes by the name Claire Zhang.
A second national security source confirmed that the allegations involve China. The Globe is not identifying the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
The 33-year-old worked at federal government departments including Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) before beginning the NATO internship.
Since her arrest, Ottawa has faced questions from experts and former senior public servants about how she had managed to gain security clearance from Ottawa to work at NATO.
Before she started the internship, Ms. Zhang had been ordered in 2023 by the Public Service Commission of Canada to complete a course in ethics if she took a federal public service job within a year after being found to have committed fraud in applying twice under two different names for a job at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Ms. Zhang sought a judicial review of the federal watchdog’s ruling, with her lawyers arguing that the proposed corrective measures were “disproportionately harsh.” But a Federal Court judge dismissed her appeal in 2024, court records show.
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Federal Court documents refer to Ms. Zhang having also submitted more than one application for a role at Statistics Canada, which spotted this and consolidated the applications.
An investigation by the Public Service Commission into her conduct also found she had mistakenly claimed on the applications to CBSA that she had worked at a government department where she had never been employed. She had stated her employer was Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), where she had never worked.
Ms. Zhang, according to an investigation report by the commission submitted to the Federal Court, had explained that because English is not her first language she had confused ESDC, where she did work, with PSPC. She had made the mistake in both applications to the CBSA.
Brittany Fletcher, spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, previously told The Globe that the federal government, “following security assessments provided by CSIS, makes the final decision to grant, deny, or revoke security clearances for Canadians seeking positions with international organizations, including NATO.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney, at a news conference in Toronto earlier this month, was asked whether Canada’s screening processes need reform.
He said: “Any time you have a situation, you should take, you take stock and take lessons from this.”
But Mr. Carney said the probe into Ms. Zhang is “an active investigation,” which limited what he could say.
“The only thing I would add cryptically is that Canadian officials have been involved from the start,” he added.
CSIS told The Globe that it is assisting the Belgians with their inquiries.
“Canada’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies maintain strong relationships with domestic and international partner agencies. As the PM has shared, we are working with Belgian counterparts as the investigative and legal processes continue to unfold in Brussels,” CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam said in a statement.