Relations between Canada and India have been under pressure for years, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have quarreled over Sikh separatist elements in this country.
Canada is home to the largest Sikh community outside of India — about 770,000 people, or about 2.1 per cent of the country’s population, according to federal data.
Some of those Sikh Canadians (experts suggest they make up a relatively small share of the whole) support the creation of a separate Sikh homeland independent from India. They have sent money and resources to support the cause and have staged unofficial referendums here in Canada, actions that have been condemned by India’s leadership.
Trudeau, like his predecessors, has said Canada supports a “united India.”
He hasn’t cracked down on Sikh separatist discourse, despite intense Indian pressure to do so. Some Sikh Canadians have defended the push for an independent “Khalistan” as a peaceful movement for greater Sikh autonomy in India.
The fractious relationship came to a head last fall when Trudeau said publicly that Canadian authorities have been “actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link” between agents working for the Indian government and the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside his Surrey, B.C. gurdwara in June 2023.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on Tuesday, July 2, 2019. In a statement responding to queries about making India part of her mandate probing foreign interference, the Privy Council Office has indicated Nijjar’s killing is a matter of criminal investigation by the RCMP. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
India rejected Trudeau’s claim as “absurd” and accused Canadians of interfering in “internal matters.” Both countries subsequently kicked out each other’s diplomats.
On Friday, Canadian police arrested members of a hit squad alleged to have carried out the Nijjar killing. Investigators have said they believe the alleged assassins were retained by the Indian government.
Speaking to Punjabi media in Canada on the Sunday before those arrests, Trudeau said the Nijjar investigation will reveal some “very, very clear things that everyone around the world — including in India — will see as to the responsibilities and involvement.”
Here is a timeline of some of the events that have complicated Canada’s bilateral relationship with India, the world’s largest democracy.
February 2018
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau comes in for criticism after a troubled trip to India — a week-long visit meant to bolster relations with the world’s largest democracy.
Trudeau had intended to use the trip to smooth over long-simmering tensions about support for Sikh separatism in the Canadian diaspora, and to bolster Canada’s relatively weak trading relationship with India.
The invitation, while not sanctioned by Trudeau, is a diplomatic embarrassment.
WATCH: Trudeau doing damage control on India trip
Trudeau doing damage control on India trip
6 years ago
Duration 5:39
Justin Trudeau has been in damage control mode on his India trip following the revelation that a man convicted of attempting to kill a politician was invited to an event with the Canadian prime minister. Jaspal Atwal, a former member of a Sikh extremist group who was convicted in 1986 for the attempted assassination of an Indian politician, was also photographed with Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau. It’s just the latest bit of controversy on a trip that’s already been heavily criticized for a lack of purpose by pundits and Trudeau’s opponents
Trudeau and his family are also mocked for wearing traditional Indian garb during the visit, which attracts negative scrutiny at home and abroad.
June 2023
Trudeau’s national security adviser accuses India of being one of the top sources of foreign interference in Canada, a public designation Ottawa had largely limited to authoritarian states up to that point.
In early June, India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, criticizes Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards. India sees the float as an effort to glorify violence by Sikh separatists.
Two weeks later, on the evening of June 18, Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is shot dead outside his gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. Congregants immediately call his killing a politically motivated attack.
WATCH: Crowds gather at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., after fatal shooting
Crowds gather at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., after fatal shooting
11 months ago
Duration 0:17
Members of B.C.’s Sikh community say gurdwara president Hardeep Singh Nijjar was targeted by gunmen in the temple’s parking lot.
Nijjar’s death leads to heated protests against Indian officials throughout the summer.
The group Sikhs for Justice calls for people to “besiege” Indian consulates and offers cash rewards for the home addresses of Indian diplomats.
September 2023
In an unexpected move, Canada pauses talks on a proposed trade treaty with India. International Trade Minister Mary Ng also postpones a mission to India, planned for October.
There is visible tension in New Delhi between Trudeau and Modi during the G20 leaders’ summit.
A week later, on Sept. 18, Trudeau reveals that Canadian intelligence agencies are “pursuing credible allegations of a potential link” between India’s government and Nijjar’s death.
WATCH: Canadians have a ‘right to know’ about allegations linking India to killing of Sikh leader: Trudeau
Canadians have a ‘right to know’ about allegations linking India to killing of Sikh leader
8 months ago
Duration 2:11
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is not looking to ‘provoke or escalate’ after he said in the House of Commons there were credible allegations linking India to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian who backed the creation of a Sikh homeland in India.
India subsequently restricts visas for Canadians ahead of the country’s wedding season. It ultimately restores visa access in November.
New Delhi says it had concerns about the safety of its diplomats in Canada, despite Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma saying weeks before that he had no such concerns.
India brands Canada a “safe haven for terrorists, extremists” and “anti-India activities.”
Sources tell CBC News the Canadian government had amassed both human and signals intelligence, including communications involving Indian officials and Indian diplomats present in Canada, as part of the investigation into Nijjar’s killing. Some of the intelligence was provided by an unnamed ally in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, according to the sources.
October 2023
India cancels diplomatic immunity for 41 Canadian diplomats, along with security protection for their relatives.
That effectively forces two-thirds of Canada’s diplomats in the country to go home.
WATCH: India’s move on diplomats ‘contrary to international law,’ PM says
India’s move on diplomats ‘contrary to international law,’ PM says
7 months ago
Duration 2:41
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government of India’s move to revoke diplomatic immunity from dozens of Canadian staff posted there is a violation of international law and something countries all over the world should be worried about.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly decries the move but pledges to hold further conversations with India in private.
November 2023
A New York court unseals an indictment alleging a foiled murder-for-hire plot led by an Indian diplomat against a Sikh separatist earlier that year.
WATCH: Indian PM makes first remarks about assassination plot claims
Indian PM makes first remarks about assassination plot claims
5 months ago
Duration 2:06
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he will ‘look into any evidence’ that his country planned the assassination of perceived enemies on Canadian and American soil — his first remarks on the matter since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brought them out publicly in August.
American officials allege the organizers behind the plot were pondering three other assassinations in Canada, including that of Nijjar.
January 2024
The independent inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian affairs asks Ottawa to share information about possible meddling by India in elections.
New Delhi rejects the suggestion it is behind any such acts and repeats its longstanding view that Canada allows Sikh separatists to intervene in its affairs.
March 2024
Bloomberg reports that the Indian government gave the U.S. a report which acknowledges that Indian agents were involved in the U.S. murder plot, but claims they were rogue operatives.
Exclusive security video obtained by CBC’s The Fifth Estate reveals the elements of the highly co-ordinated attack that ended with the killing of Nijjar.
WATCH: Surveillance video of the attack on Nijjar
Exclusive surveillance video of the targeted killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18, 2023.
2 months ago
Duration 1:22
The Fifth Estate shows how the killing of a Sikh Canadian activist was carried out, allegedly by agents of the government of India.
VANCOUVER – A B.C. Supreme Court judge says it has jurisdiction to order the disposal of thousands of pieces of evidence seized from serial killer Robert Pickton’s pig farm decades ago, whether it was used in his murder trial or not.
A ruling issued online Wednesday said the RCMP can apply to dispose of some 15,000 pieces of evidence collected from the search of Pickton’s property in Port Coquitlam, including “items determined to belong to victims.”
Police asked the court for directions last year to be allowed to dispose of the mountain of evidence gathered in the case against Pickton, who was convicted of the second-degree murder of six women, although he was originally charged with first-degree murder of 27 women.
Pickton died in May after being attacked in a Quebec prison.
Some family members of victims disputed the disposal because they have a pending civil lawsuit against Pickton’s estate and his brother, David Pickton, Yand want to ensure that the evidence they need to prove their case is not dispersed or destroyed.
The court dismissed their bid to intervene in July this year, and the court has now ruled it has the authority to order the disposal of the evidence whether it was used at Pickton’s trial or not.
The ruling says police plan to “bring a series of applications” for court orders allowing them to get rid of the evidence because they are “legally obligated to dispose of the property” since it’s no longer needed in any investigation or criminal proceeding.
Justice Frits Verhoeven says in his ruling that there may be reason to doubt if the court has jurisdiction over items seized from the farm that had not be made exhibits.
But he said that will be a decision for later, noting “the question as to whether the court retains inherent jurisdiction to order disposal of seized items may remain to be considered, if necessary, in some other case.”
Jason Gratl, the lawyer representing family members of victims in the civil cases against the Pickton brothers, said in an interview Wednesday that the latest court decision doesn’t mean exhibits will be destroyed.
“Any concern about the destruction of the evidence is premature. Just because the court will hear the application to allow the RCMP to destroy the evidence does not mean that the court would grant the application,” he said.
Gratl said that if the RCMP brings an application to get rid of evidence that could be useful in proving the civil cases, he would ask the court for the evidence.
“We would be seeking to take possession of any evidence that the RCMP no longer wants in order to prove that civil claim,” he said.
Gratl said no date has been set for when the civil cases will be heard.
The court’s earlier ruling says the RCMP has agreed to allow some of the civil case plaintiffs “limited participation” in the disposal application process, agreeing to notify them if police identify an “ownership or property interest in the items” that they’re applying to destroy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Supporters of Vice-President Kamala Harris say they are devastated the Democratic party leader lost the United States presidential election. Harris was set to address Democrats at her alma mater Howard University in Washington, D.C. after conceding the race in a phone call with Donald Trump. (Nov. 6, 2024)
DETROIT (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin has won Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, giving Democrats a bittersweet victory in a swing state that also backed Republican President-elect Donald Trump in his successful bid to return to the White House.
Slotkin, a third-term representative, defeated former Republican congressman Mike Rogers. Democrats have held both Senate seats in Michigan for decades, but this year were left without retiring incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Michigan’s was among a handful of Senate races Democrats struggled to defend. They lost their U.S. Senate majority despite Slotkin’s narrow win.
The race was incredibly close. Just minutes before it was called for Slotkin, she addressed supporters in Detroit, acknowledging that many voters may have cast their ballots for her while also supporting Trump, who won the state’s electoral votes over Democrat Kamala Harris.
“It’s my responsibility to get things done for Michiganders. No matter who’s in office, just as I did in President Trump’s first term,” said Slotkin. “I’m a problem solver and I will work with anyone who is actually here to work.”
Slotkin’s win provides some solace for Democrats in the state, many of whom entered Election Day with high confidence following sweeping victories in the 2022 midterms. Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer still controls the executive branch and Democrats held onto the Senate, but their state House majority was in peril.
And Republicans also captured a mid-Michigan seat vacated by Slotkin, considered one of the most competitive races in the country.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and third-term representative, launched her Senate campaign shortly after Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced her retirement in early 2023. With a largely uncontested primary, Slotkin built a significant fundraising advantage and poured it into advertising. Her high-profile supporters included former President Barack Obama and Stabenow, who helped her on the campaign trail.
On the Republican side, Rogers faced multiple challengers for the party’s nomination, including former Reps. Justin Amash and Peter Meijer, the latter of whom withdrew before the Aug. 6 primary. Rogers served in the U.S. House from 2001 to 2015 and chaired the House Intelligence Committee.
Trump won Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, marking the first time a Republican presidential candidate had secured the state in nearly three decades. This time, he expanded that margin to about 80,000 votes.
Slotkin and other Michigan Democrats focused much of their campaigns on reproductive rights, arguing that Republican opponents would back a national abortion ban, although Rogers said he wouldn’t. How effectively the issue motivated voting in a state where reproductive rights were enshrined in the constitution by Michigan voters in 2022 remained to be seen on Election Day.
About 4 in 10 Michigan voters said the economy and jobs is the top issue facing the country, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 110,000 voters nationally, including about 3,700 voters in Michigan. About 2 in 10 Michigan voters said immigration is the most pressing issue, and roughly 1 in 10 named abortion.
Slotkin used her funding advantage to establish her narrative early, aiming to connect both with her base and disillusioned Republicans.
“For the Republicans who feel like their party has left them over the last few years, you will always have an open door in my office,” Slotkin said during their only debate.
