Security scandal: head of Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Lab steps down

Against the backdrop of a national security scandal that’s been brewing for several years, the top scientist at the National Microbiology Lab (NML) of Winnipeg announced he is stepping down.

Dr. Guillaume Poliquin, the lab’s lead since May 2020, will leave the position in early August.

It comes less than a month after an all-staff town hall at the federal laboratory on improvements aimed to address security threats.

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In an email sent to lab staff, Poliquin said his decision was not an easy one and followed a lot of introspection. He referred to the experience as a “wild ride.”

“Truly it has been the greatest honour of my career to be asked to do this work during the pandemic and I hope I availed myself of the task with some modicum of success, recognizing there is always more work to be done and improvements to be made,” he wrote.

“The next mission will be to lead the NML into the future and rebuild its connection to external partners and stakeholders, building on the foundation that was laid over the past year.”

Poliquin says that will require travelling, which he says he cannot do due to his clinical and family obligations.

Dr. Howard Njooo will take on the position in the interim, the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed.

The NML has been the focus of scrutiny after it was determined two scientists working at the lab – Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng – had ties to the Chinese government.

A report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service detailed how there was a “very real potential” Cheng could relay sensitive information to “foreign threat actors” to be “used for nefarious purposes.”

The scientists were escorted from the lab in 2019 and fired in 2021.

Records tabled in Parliament in February say the couple played down their collaborations with Chinese government agencies.

The all-staff town hall earlier this month led the NML to commit to implementing new security measures, including security zones, a modernized guard desk, 24/7 random X-ray checks, security lockers for visitors, and enhanced rationale requirements for people trying to garner higher privileges – both in the lab and within its internal systems.

The new security measures also include updated procedures around working with “visitors and collaborators” at the lab and more intense processes for the “review/approval” of international collaborations.