The South Asian community is facing a particular risk, especially those linked to the pro-Khalistan movement, the RCMP said
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OTTAWA — Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he wants a parliamentary committee to probe how best to protect Canadians against threats from India after the RCMP announced that it believes government agents are connected to serious violent crimes happening in Canada.
Singh spoke to reporters on Tuesday, the day after the national force announced it had found “links tying agents of the Government of India to homicides and violent acts.” That included diplomats, whom the RCMP said had used their position to collect information for India’s government, either through proxies or “coercion.”
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RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the police force concluded these activities pose a serious public safety threat, which is why it took the extraordinary step to share the findings publicly on Monday.
The South Asian community is facing a particular risk, the RCMP added, especially those linked to the pro-Khalistan movement, which is a political movement to establish a separate Sikh state within India, which the Indian government deems as extremist.
Singh, who is himself Sikh, declined to say when asked repeatedly on Tuesday whether he had been warned by the RCMP of being a potential target.
“Talking about myself does not in any way help Canadians to realize what the RCMP talked about, what they’ve shared, the allegations they put forward,” Singh said.
“This is serious, and I want to focus on the fact that this is a threat to Canada.”
Monday’s announcement comes more than a year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced to the House of Commons that authorities believed India was connected to the slaying of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Three Indian nationals have since been charged in his death.
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Trudeau’s latest announcement that India “repeatedly refused” to cooperate with Canadian authorities about the RCMP’s more recent findings is what led Ottawa to expel six diplomats, who India said Canada had informed them were deemed persons of interest related to a criminal investigation, including India’s high commissioner.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has called the accusations against the commissioner “ludicrous” and accused Trudeau’s government of making the allegations to try to advance its own political agenda, which it said was centred on “vote bank politics.”
On Tuesday, Singh called on the Liberals to “impose severe and strict sanctions” on Indian diplomats as well as “ban” the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Network from operating in Canada, which he characterized as a “extremist militant group” from India.
A response from Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office has yet to be returned.
“We need to take every step possible to keep Canadians safe,” Singh said. “The RCMP is exposing (a) very serious threat.”
Singh said he wants to see the parliamentary committee on public safety hold an emergency meeting to study how to protect Canadians. The NDP sent a letter to its chair Tuesday morning. Later in the day, Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office confirmed it would support the call.
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During his news conference, Singh took aim at Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for not having received the security clearance necessary to read classified reports or be briefed on sensitive information relating to foreign interference. Poilievre has explained he has not done so because he would then be “muzzled” and restricted in what he could do with the information.
In light of the RCMP’s warning about India, Singh said he is “deeply troubled” by Poilievre’s decision.
“I don’t want the Indian government or (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) to think they’ve got someone in Canada whose willing to look the other way to ignore what’s going on.”
Both Poilievre and Singh received an unclassified briefing on the current situation with India on Monday.
A spokesman for Poilievre said if the federal government has information it wants to share with the Conservative leader, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service could make use of its “threat reduction measures” outlined in law.
“The government could use it to inform Mr. Poilievre of any critical national security information they believe he needs to know. To date, they have chosen not to,” said Sebastian Skamski.
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“Unlike others who are willing to limit their ability to hold the government to account on important issues of national security, Mr. Poilievre will not be gagged and left unable to speak or act on the information he may receive.”
National Post
staylor@postmedia.com
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