National Post: House public safety committee votes to investigate vetting of accused NATO spy

OTTAWA — The House of Commons public safety committee has voted unanimously to investigate Canada’s security screening processes, after a Canadian woman was arrested in Belgium for allegedly spying on NATO.

The committee adopted a special, out-of-session motion on Monday to probe the vetting of Biwei “Claire” Zhang by Canadian security officials before the start of an internship last summer at NATO’s central military headquarters in Belgium.

On July 25, Belgian authorities announced they’d arrested a “Canadian national of Chinese origin” on suspicion of spying for a third country while interning at the NATO headquarters. Subsequent reporting identified the suspect as Zhang, a computer science and systems engineering graduate in her early 30s who’d previously held positions at multiple Canadian federal agencies.

Zhang’s security clearance for the overseas NATO internship was approved by the Canadian government after she was vetted by CSIS.

The NDP does not have any seats on the public safety committee, or any House committee, but NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said she supported the investigation.

”The government needs to conduct a comprehensive review of how this individual was vetted and cleared for a sensitive NATO posting, including the role played by Global Affairs Canada, CSIS and the RCMP,” said Kwan in an email.

Kwan also it was important to ensure that candidate screening remain “evidence based” and “(does) not become a vehicle for racial or ethnic profiling.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/house-public-safety-committee-special-meeting-accused-nato-spy

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CBC News: Demand for Canadian citizenship certificates soaring, fuelled by Americans

Applications from people around the world seeking Canadian citizenship certificates have been rising rapidly in recent months, fuelled by thousands of applications from the United States, CBC News has learned.

The number of people who have already received certificates as a result of Parliament’s adoption of “Lost Canadian” legislation late last year rose nearly 50 per cent between April 1 and May 31, according to new data obtained by CBC.

Bill C-3 allows citizenship for those who can prove they're descended from a Canadian ancestor, even if that ancestor left the country several generations back. It was adopted after the courts ruled that limiting citizenship to the first generation born outside of Canada was too restrictive.

Between mid-December — when Bill C-3 went into effect — and May 31, some 6,100 citizenship certificates were granted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to those who now qualify.

That is up from 4,075 certificates issued as a result of Bill C-3 from mid-December until March 31.

Another 17,390 people have received certificates as a result of having a Canadian parent. Prior to the bill's adoption, those who were born outside Canada had to have a Canadian parent to qualify for citizenship.

In June, IRCC suddenly suspended an estimated 100 certificates that had already been issued after flagging problems with the documents submitted with the applications. The concern from archivists is that some people who've already applied to IRCC will be sent back to archives to find more genealogical records.

The IRCC says 83 of the suspensions have been resolved and the certificates restored. It has sent procedural fairness letters to another 17 people whose certificates were suspended and given them 60 days to submit the documents necessary to prove their Canadian ancestry.

If they fail to provide acceptable proof, their citizenship certificates could be revoked.

New Democrat immigration critic Jenny Kwan said she has been getting letters and inquiries from people affected by the suspension letters and has written to Metlege Diab, calling for answers.

“It really makes no sense whatsoever, what’s going on," Kwan said. "And the minister is completely ignoring that reality right now.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-citizenship-certificates-americans-9.7307536

The Breach: The head of the world’s largest far-right organization is coming to Canada—unless he’s stopped

The leader of a fascist Hindu organization is scheduled to visit Canada this month on a tour intended to clean up its image. But human rights groups are saying he shouldn’t be allowed into the country at all.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh—or RSS—is a paramilitary group whose early leaders were inspired by Nazism.

It has been called the “ideological mothership” of India’s ruling far-right party, which was founded as the RSS’s political wing.

Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has seen a wave of violence against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Dalits: mob lynchings of Muslims, attacks on Christmas celebrations, and a a 97 per cent increase in hate speech since 2023.

RSS members have frequently led the violence. A 2025 report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom concluded that the RSS has been “involved in acts of extreme violence and intolerance against members of minority groups.”

The NDP’s Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson and Immigration and Public Safety Critic Jenny Kwan have joined the call for the federal government to deny Bhagwat entry, and have renewed the NDP’s position that the RSS should be banned from Canada entirely.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://breachmedia.ca/the-head-of-the-worlds-largest-far-right-organization-is-coming-to-canada-unless-hes-stopped/

CBC News: Prison watchdog role left vacant for months, even after outgoing investigator warned of 'serious legal void'

Prime Minister Mark Carney's government left the position of Canada's prison watchdog vacant for several months, despite written warnings from the outgoing correctional investigator that doing so would seriously compromise the office's powers to do its job protecting inmates.

Records obtained by CBC News under Canada's Access to Information Act reveal that former correctional investigator Ivan Zinger advised Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree that the failure to fill his position before he left "would create a serious legal void."

After around four months of sitting vacant, the role was filled by an interim investigator — a move that has itself raised concerns because of the role's temporary nature.

The Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) acts as an independent watchdog for prisoners across Canada, dealing with an average 4,000-5,000 complaints a year.

In previous years its work has helped trigger significant inquiries, such as the commission of inquiry into Kingston's Prison for Women in the mid-1990s that uncovered infringement of prisoners' legal rights and "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment of women there.

During his time as correctional investigator, Zinger flagged several problems in Canada's prisons including lack of access to adequate mental health treatment and the over-representation of Indigenous inmates.

Last year he announced he would be stepping down early from his five-year mandate.

Zinger told CBC News that he gave the government seven months' notice so it could find a new correctional investigator before he left in February.

New Democrat public safety critic Jenny Kwan said there are several issues in Canada's prison system that have to be dealt with, including the over-incarceration of Indigenous people, inadequate mental health support and barriers to rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

"I think that this is not a priority for the government," said Kwan.

Kwan said Zinger should not have had to warn Anandasangaree about the need to fill the position.

"To date, we still don't have a permanent appointment, and there is no clear process of how the government will proceed with respect to that," she said. "That should be alarming for everyone, for Canadians, for the minister who is in charge of Canada's public safety."