Canada-China Relations committee  Indeed, President Jeffrey is correct that, conceptually, other laboratories in the level 4 space operate in the same way with respect to the need for additional security screening prior to having access to level 3 and level 4 pathogens, particularly security-sensitive ones. However, the specific mechanics of how that is ascertained is done at the country level.

Canada-China Relations committee  As far as I understand, the WIV was developed as a level 4 facility.

Canada-China Relations committee  The efforts under way were for the development of medical countermeasures, and several potential candidates for the treatment of Ebola and Henipah have been published since then. It is difficult to ascertain what could have happened but, certainly, innovations that have been published in the public domain would likely not have occurred.

Canada-China Relations committee  Are you asking whether the...?

Canada-China Relations committee  I cannot speak to whether Dr. Qiu was involved and essential to that process.

Canada-China Relations committee  I'm not aware of such an MOU, should it exist.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, the transfer of level 4 pathogens falls under the transportation of dangerous goods regulations, which involves the development of an emergency research response action plan as well as a number of additional checks. However, the ultimate carrier for these types of samples is often commercial.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would say that at the time, there was a long-standing effort by China—as demonstrated in west Africa by deploying over 100 health personnel, as an example—to help combat—

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, in this context, the aim was to reinforce public health security through the development of medical countermeasures. That was the stated purpose of the collaboration, and as such, the transfer was authorized.

Canada-China Relations committee  Prior to access to the laboratory at the time, an individual would have had to fill out a facility access request form for a particular individual, and those are submitted to the security division for review to provide access. Also, as previously stated, access to the laboratory does not give full access to all parts of the laboratory.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Indeed, at this time, we are living in a period in which we are seeing increasing activity of diseases. Part of the role of the national microbiology lab is to remain abreast of these. Mpox is a good example, with a recent outbreak domestically and ongoing activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example.

Canada-China Relations committee  In terms of access to the laboratory, restricted visitors were a special category of individuals who would be under escort at all times but who would not have had access to high-containment laboratories.

Canada-China Relations committee  Indeed, international collaboration in this space is essential for the advancement of the work. A concrete example that is pertinent here would be the development of the Ebola monoclonal antibody cocktail involved in the development of multiple components of that treatment, some of which came from American innovation and advancement.

Canada-China Relations committee  It is essential to share samples between the level 4 labs, as these are what enable the science to be done. By having the specimens on hand, we are able to do diagnostic development, applied research and medical countermeasure development, but a lot of that work is essentially rooted in having access to the samples to do the work.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Under the HPT regulations, inventory control for these pathogens is very complex. It involves regular auditing of the materials. It's done independently of any other scientists and has been an ongoing process over the past 20 years. Following the regular audit procedures, but also in the wake of the incidents, audits were conducted, and we can confirm that all specimens that were expected to be there and logged are present and accounted for.