Carney says Canada involved ‘from the start’ in NATO intern spying case

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that Canada has “been involved from the start” in the case of a Canadian intern at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium now facing espionage charges,

Carney spoke in Toronto on Wednesday after making a housing announcement, and was asked whether he has spoken with NATO or the Belgian authorities about what Canada will do next and about the security risk posed by the spying case.

“Anytime you have a situation, you should take stock and take lessons from this. The second thing is, look, it’s an active investigation, so I’m limited in what I can say,” said Carney.

“The only thing I would add, cryptically, is that Canadian officials have been involved from the start. Draw your own conclusions.”

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On July 25, a Canadian woman of Chinese origin, who was an intern at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium, was arrested on spying charges, according to a statement from Belgian authorities.

“She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization,” the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said in the statement.

To date, no further details of her identity or the country or organization she is suspected of spying for have been provided.

Following the announcement of the Canadian’s arrest, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree spoke on July 27 and said he didn’t want to speculate on the case.

“What I will say is that the allegations that … have been made are quite serious,” he said at the time.

Officials will look into whether the suspect has done any work for agencies in Canada, Anandasangaree added.

“But ultimately, we need to get to the bottom of this, and we need to ensure that these types of incidents do not occur in the future.”

–with files from The Canadian Press