The head of the Public Health Agency of Canada defied an order of the House of Commons on Monday, refusing to provide unredacted documents about the dismissal of two scientists from Canada’s high-security infectious disease laboratory.

Opposition members are hoping the documents will explain why Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, were fired from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in January.

Bob Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief, discusses what The Globe and Mail has learned so far about why the scientists were fired, why there’s a need for government transparency in this case and who gets to decide what information the public has access to.

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