Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank colleagues from all parties for coming to this extraordinary summer meeting to discuss a very important matter. I'm going to start by moving this motion, so that everyone can get a copy of it and have a chance to quickly review it before I make my remarks.
That, given that:
(1) in July 2026, Biwei Zhang, a Canadian national and former employee of the Canadian federal government, was arrested by Belgian authorities and accused of espionage after her work as an intern at NATO's military headquarters in Belgium; and
(2) these 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 and regarding the security screening, information-sharing and monitoring processes that were in place;
the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security undertake a study to examine Canada's security screening processes, that the study include a minimum of six meetings, that the committee invite the following witnesses to appear:
(i) the Minister of Public Safety,
(ii) the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service,
(iii) the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
(iv) the national security and intelligence adviser to the Prime Minister,
(v) the foreign influence transparency commissioner and
(vi) any other witnesses deemed appropriate by the committee;
that this study begin within 10 calendar days following the adoption of this motion, and that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.
That's it for the motion. I believe it will be distributed in both official languages to all members of the committee.
We're here today for this extraordinary meeting this summer—