A parliamentary committee in the House of Commons has agreed to investigate the security screening procedures in Canada following the arrest of a Canadian NATO intern by Belgian authorities on charges of espionage.
The decision was made after the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois called for an urgent committee meeting to look into the spying accusations against the intern. Members of the public safety and national security committee joined forces across party lines during a meeting on Monday to schedule three sessions to delve into the matter when Parliament resumes in September.
The committee plans to summon Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree as a witness and may call on other relevant witnesses as needed. The findings and recommendations resulting from the investigation will be reported to the House.
Although the identity of the defendant in criminal investigations is typically kept confidential by Belgian courts until trial, a CBC News probe revealed the alleged spy to be Biwei Zhang, a systems engineer with an economics background who was interning at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.
The investigation uncovered that Biwei Zhang is the legal name of the suspect, while she uses the professional name Claire Zhang and the name Catina Zhang on her Facebook profile. Belgian authorities suspect Zhang of spying for a foreign country and being associated with a criminal group.
The security clearance required for the NATO internship obtained by Zhang involves a thorough background check, which Canadian authorities, specifically the RCMP and CSIS, are responsible for conducting due to her Canadian nationality.
Following the arrest of the alleged spy by Belgian officials, Canada’s public safety minister pledged to investigate the matter thoroughly, emphasizing the gravity of the charges. Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned that Canadian officials have been actively engaged in the situation.
CBC News also found that the former NATO intern had previously held positions in various Canadian government departments. Zhang’s resume indicates she had worked as an economist at Statistics Canada and as a systems engineer at the Canadian Space Agency. In a separate incident in 2023, Zhang was found to have committed fraud by submitting multiple applications under different names and emails for a role at the Canada Border Services Agency.
Zhang’s professional history includes positions 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 from the University of Ottawa. Prior to her arrest, Belgian authorities conducted searches at Zhang’s residence and workplace at SHAPE in connection with the espionage and criminal organization allegations.