Seventy days ago, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree promised Canadians he would get to the bottom of how an alleged Chinese spy ended up working for the Canadian government at NATO headquarters. On Monday, he was asked whether he had.

Sheila Gunn Reid and David Menzies covered the exchange on Monday's Rebel Roundup.

The woman at the centre of the case, identified by CBC as Biwei Zhang, had reportedly been flagged for fraud before she received her security clearance. And it was Belgian authorities, not the RCMP, who tipped off Canada.

"They were just asleep at the switch," Sheila said, as the minister appeared before the House public safety committee to answer for it. "You'd think that Gary Anandasangaree would come to committee with something," she said. "He didn't."

Conservative MP Frank Caputo asked him directly whether he got to the bottom of this. Anandasangaree said Canadians had been assured that any issues of concern would be addressed — prompting Caputo to ask again.

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Anandasangaree confirmed the promise was made around the end of July, then pushed back. "Are we looking for a clip or are you looking for a comprehensive answer from me?" he asked. "I'm not prepared to give you clips so that this can be politicized."

"I'd like an answer, not a lecture," Caputo replied. On the third attempt, Anandasangaree pointed to Belgium's investigation and said security screening is the responsibility of individual departments under the Treasury Board Secretariat.

The Conservative MP wasn't having it. "Minister, the buck stops with you," Caputo said. "It is a shame, and I think it's actually disgraceful, that it was Belgium that figured out a Canadian was spying rather than Canada."

Sheila said the case should worry Canadians as Ottawa warms up to Beijing. China, she argued, appears to be using Canada as a jumping-off point to spy on the rest of the world, including NATO.

"That's our public safety minister," she said, adding sarcastically "I don't know about you guys, but I feel safer already."

Menzies found a silver lining. "At least on this file, he didn't have to recuse himself," he said, referring to Anandasangaree's previous recusal from issues involving the Tamil Tigers. 

Rebel Roundup airs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.