The head of the RCMP is urging members of the Sikh community to speak out as police continue to investigate allegations linking the Indian government to a campaign of violence on Canadian soil.
On Monday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme publicly alleged that agents of the government of India have played a role in “widespread” acts of violence in Canada, including homicides.
In an extraordinary long weekend news conference, Duheme alleged that Indian diplomats and consular officials in Canada have been linked to murders and acts of extortion, intimidation and coercion against Canadians and people living in Canada.
Duheme told reporters that the national force felt it had to come forward to disrupt the networks working in Canada, which he said pose a “significant threat to public safety in our country.”
In a Tuesday interview with Radio-Canada, Duheme urged people with knowledge relevant to the RCMP’s investigation to come forward.
“If people come forward, we can help them and I ask them to come forward if they can,” he said.
“People come to Canada to feel safe, and our job as law enforcement is to make sure that they’re in an environment that is safe to live.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday his government expelled six Indian diplomats from Canada because New Delhi refused to co-operate in criminal investigations into alleged acts of violence and coercion linked to agents of the Indian government. ‘The government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians here on Canadian soil,’ he said.
Asked if members of the Indian diaspora should be concerned for their safety, Duheme said he hopes they “have trust and confidence in the police jurisdiction.”
While taking questions about the investigations Monday, Assistant RCMP Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin said eight people have been charged in Canada with homicide. She also said 22 individuals stand charged with extortion.
The Mounties also said they’ve warned 13 Canadians since September 2023 that they are potential targets of harassment or threats by Indian agents. Some of those individuals have received multiple threats, Gauvin said.
Earlier Monday, Canada announced it’s expelling six Indian diplomats. India has denied the RCMP’s allegations and quickly retaliated by ordering six Canadian diplomats to leave the country within a week.
In a media statement, New Delhi rejected what it called the “preposterous imputations” of the Canadian allegations and accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of having a “political agenda” centred on “vote-bank politics,” a term referring to voting blocs from specific communities.
Police have been probing other suspicious deaths
The claims have undermined an already strained relationship between Canada and India. Tensions flared last year when Trudeau announced in the House of Commons that Canada had evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of Canadian Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. New Delhi has denied the allegation.
“I think it is obvious that the government of India made a fundamental error in thinking that they could engage in supporting criminal activity against Canadians, here on Canadian soil,” said Trudeau Monday night.
“No country, particularly not a democracy that upholds the rule of law, can accept this fundamental violation of its sovereignty.”
Duheme did not provide more details about the homicide investigations during his Monday press conference.
As CBC reported in May, RCMP investigators have been investigating whether the government of India was behind the killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who was acquitted in 2005 of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to a pair of bombings in 1985 that killed 331 people.
Singh Malik was gunned down outside his office in Surrey on July 14, 2022. Two men have since been charged in his murder.
Sources also told CBC in the spring that investigators have been looking into whether three other suspicious deaths are linked to Nijjar’s killing.
Sukhdool Singh Gill, 39, of Winnipeg was found shot to death just two days after Trudeau’s announcement in the House of Commons. One day before his killing, Gill’s name and photo appeared on a list of 43 names of suspected terrorists drawn up by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), which linked him to the separatist Khalistan Tiger Force. India previously accused Nijjar of being part of the same organization.
Six weeks later, Harpreet Uppal was brazenly shot dead in his vehicle in a busy suburban shopping area of Edmonton, in an attack that also claimed the life of his 11-year-old son.
Police also have said those killings may have been fuelled by gangland rivalries and vendettas.
Strained relations
Both countries hinted at further punitive actions as the diplomatic relationship declines.
In its Monday statement, India said it “now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these latest efforts of the Canadian government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomat.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said she’s in contact with her G7 counterparts and “everything is on the table.”
During a Tuesday news conference, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for more diplomatic sanctions on India and pushed for an emergency meeting of the House of Commons public safety committee to discuss the RCMP allegations.
Both Singh and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre were briefed Monday by the national security and intelligence adviser on the latest allegations, their staff said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for an emergency meeting of the public safety committee to look into the RCMP’s claim that Indian government agents have been involved in crimes in Canada.
Singh continued to take swipes at Poilievre for failing to obtain the security clearance that would have allowed him last spring to read the classified version of an intelligence report on foreign interference.
Among other things, that report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) alleged foreign actors from India interfered in a Conservative Party of Canada leadership race.
“In a time when we have active threats against Canadians, that he wants to be the only leader that doesn’t want to look at what’s going on, that does send a message to the Indian government that there’s one leader that’s willing to look away,” said Singh.
“That to me is deeply troubling.”