Public safety committee to meet Friday to discuss RCMP allegations against India, expulsion of diplomats

The emergency meeting comes after stunning allegations that police have found connections between agents with the Government of India and violent crime in Canada

Published Oct 16, 2024  •  3 minute read

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme at a news conference at RCMP National Headquarters in Ottawa, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The parliamentary committee on public safety will meet Friday to discuss a study into threats posed by India, including allegations that led to the expulsion of six diplomats.

The emergency meeting comes after RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme and later Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released stunning allegations on Monday that police have found connections between agents with the Government of India and violent crime in Canada, such as homicides and extortions.

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India has denied the allegations, including those it says have been levied against High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma.

The Mounties said on Monday that investigations have revealed Indian diplomats and other consular officials to be involved in “clandestine activities,” such as collecting information for the Indian government either “voluntarily or through coercion”

After the RCMP and other government officials raised the matter with India, Trudeau said India “refused” to cooperate. He said Canada decided to expel six diplomats, who police deemed to be “persons of interest” in relation to criminal investigations.

On Tuesday, B.C. NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, who serves as the party’s critic in Parliament for public safety, wrote to the public safety committee chair requesting an emergency meeting to study the situation, which was supported by the  Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois and governing Liberals.

“Yesterday, it was revealed that six diplomats from the Government of India have been expulsed due to their connection to violent criminal activity in Canada, including homicides, violent acts and interference into the democratic processes,” MacGregor said in his letter on Tuesday.

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“This development follows the tragic news from over one year ago, when we learned that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was killed on Canadian soil by agents linked to the Government of India.

Three Indian nationals have been charged in connection with the slaying of the Sikh leader and activist who was heavily involved in the Khalistan movement. The political movement advocates for the creation of a separate Sikh state within India, which India has deemed to be extremist.

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The MP also pointed to the how the RCMP said it had warned at least 13 people of threats against them by India.

“This is very alarming,” wrote MacGregor.

Those in the South Asian community, and in particular Sikh individuals who are involved in the pro-Khalistan movement,  have been targeted, the RCMP said on Monday.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, declined to say when asked by reporters on Tuesday whether he had been warned that he is a target of India’s or facing threats.

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Singh instead called for the government to levy “impose severe and strict sanctions” against India’s diplomats who authorities deem to be involved and called for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Network from operating in Canada.

The NDP leader called the group an “extremist militant group” from India. No response has yet been returned from Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office on the matter.

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