America’s top diplomat is again urging India and Canada to work together on bringing Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killers to justice — and hopefully forestall a deepening of a serious geopolitical rift between two important allies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he delivered that message Thursday during his meeting in Washington, D.C., with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister.
Relations between Canada and India have plumbed new depths since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited “credible allegations” of links between the Indian government and the shooting death of Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen.
“We’re very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada, by Prime Minister Trudeau,” Blinken told a news conference Friday.
“Those responsible need to be held accountable, and we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter.”
Blinken said the U.S. has been in close contact with both countries about the allegations ever since Trudeau made them public earlier this month in the House of Commons.
“At the same time, we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation, and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Jaishankar.”
A State Department readout of that meeting made no mention of the controversy, but experts in international diplomacy say that’s hardly surprising.
The allegations have put the U.S. in an awkward spot, with the Biden administration courting India as it works to develop a geopolitical bulwark against the mounting influence of China.
Trudeau, who expressly asked Blinken to reiterate Canada’s concerns with Jaishankar, paid a visit Friday to a community centre in Brampton, Ont., a Toronto suburb that’s home to Canada’s largest Sikh population.
He moved through an outdoor picnic area, where he encountered a number of people worried about the tensions and the safety of members of the Indo-Canadian community.
“It’s very, very complicated times right now,” Trudeau said. “It’s a time where we have to pull together, we have to be there for each other.”
At another table, he acknowledged the challenge of navigating such serious allegations with a country that is widely seen around the world as a vital economic and geopolitical ally with the West.
“Every Canadian, regardless of where they come from, needs to be safe in this country,” Trudeau said.
“That’s something that even as we look to work and grow our trade ties around the world, including with India, we have to be unequivocal about the rules being the rules.”
Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Jagmeet Singh claims there is ‘clear’ evidence on India’s role in assassination
Diplomacy under such circumstances can be a tricky and nuanced endeavour. But the U.S. has already taken steps to ensure Trudeau had at least some support from inside the so-called Five Eyes security alliance.
That came last week from David Cohen, the U.S. envoy to Canada, who confirmed that Canada’s allegations were supported in part by intelligence from inside that alliance, which includes the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
“I think the Americans feel they have backed up the head of the government, the prime minister, with the comments of the ambassador,” said Gary Doer, who spent more than six years as Canada’s envoy to D.C.
“I think if they hadn’t been public through their ambassador, you could look for a tilt, but they did get somebody out there to back up the prime minister.”
A strong economic and diplomatic relationship with India is as important for Canada as it is for the U.S., he added.
“It’s not one versus the other. I think we benefit both ways. And so do they.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
