Public safety minister admits security ‘gaps’ after NATO intern arrest

Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia

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OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree conceded there are “gaps” in the government’s security clearance process in the wake of the arrest of a Canadian woman of Chinese origin charged with spying at NATO headquarters.

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“I think there’s over 200,000 screenings that are undertaken every year,” said Anandasangaree, who was grilled by MPs of all stripes at the Commons public safety committee on Monday.

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“By and large, it is an unimpeachable record. Of course, there are gaps here, and I recognize that there are gaps, and that’s what I think we need to improve on.”

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But the meeting provided few answers to key questions such as what are those gaps, what did the government know or not know about Biwei Zhang’s checkered professional past and how was the former federal public servant allowed to keep her clearance despite previous concerns about her integrity.

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That raised the ire of Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs, who described the Zhang saga as a stain on Canada’s international reputation.

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“I don’t feel like we have any further … answers, I should say, on something that is a very serious matter,” said Conservative MP Frank Caputo towards the end of the public meeting with the minister and top CSIS, RCMP and Treasury Board Secretariat officials.

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Bloc MP Claude De Bellefeuille went a step further, telling the minister and bureaucrats that she was seeing “sizeable incompetence and a lack of rigour” in this case.

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“I cannot believe that this person who had fake names… applied twice to CBSA and (has) Facebook accounts under two names succeeded in getting her security clearance,” said Bloc MP Claude DeBellefeuille.

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“Sure, because of the investigation you can’t tell us anything, but it’s a demonstration of the weakness of your processes… and if I was the public safety minister, I would not be happy to see that the group that is meant to protect us are very lax,” she added.

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On July 24, Belgian authorities laid espionage charges against the Canadian who was working as an intern at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) headquarters in Mons, Belgium.

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The suspect was later identified by media as 33-year-old Biwei Zhang, who also went by Claire Zhang. Belgian and Canadian officials have neither confirmed nor denied her identity.

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According to Belgian authorities, Zhang is suspected of “spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization.” She was denied bail in August and remains imprisoned in Belgium.

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During the hearing, Anandasangaree revealed that he had learned of the impending charges against Zhang one week before they were made public in July.

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He promised there would be “serious learnings” from the Zhang case at the conclusion of the Canadian and Belgian investigations.