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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser says she shared the explosive allegations about Indian officials taking part in criminal activity in Canada with her counterpart in New Delhi before the RCMP went public with the news this month.

Nathalie Drouin told the House of Commons national security committee today there was an effort to work with the Indian government to ensure accountability.

On Oct. 14, the RCMP said Indian diplomats and consular officials were persons of interest in cases of extortion, coercion and violence, including murder, that targeted Canadian citizens.

Drouin says a meeting was held with Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, in Singapore two days earlier.

Drouin says the decision was made to go public when it became evident the Indian government would not co-operate with Canada on proposed accountability measures.

The RCMP said it took the extraordinary step of talking publicly about ongoing investigations because of threats to public safety.

The same day as the RCMP news conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced Canada was expelling the Indian high commissioner and five other diplomats.

The Indian government denies the allegations and has expelled six Canadian diplomats.

Drouin told the committee that Canada has evidence the Indian government first gathered information on Indian nationals in Canada through diplomatic channels and proxies.

She said the information was then passed along to the government in New Delhi, which allegedly works with Lawrence Bishnoi’s criminal network.

Bishnoi is currently in prison in India, but Drouin said his vast criminal network has been linked to homicides, assassination plots, coercion and other violent crimes in Canada.

Liberal MP Iqwinder Gaheer said this reinforces “whispers” that have existed in the Sikh community for years and described the situation as something out of a Bollywood movie.

Drouin is appearing at the committee alongside RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme and CSIS director Daniel Rogers.

Both Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Joly are expected to appear at future meetings as the study continues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2024

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Montreal police say a 53-year-old man was stabbed with a sharp object by a fellow patient sharing the same hospital room.

They say the victim suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive.

Police were called to the French-language downtown Montreal superhospital, known as the CHUM, at about 1:15 a.m.

Const. Véronique Dubuc says a 35-year-old male suspect attacked his roommate with a sharp object and hospital staff intervened.

The victim was seriously injured in the upper body but was quickly stabilized by hospital staff.

Police are investigating and don’t yet know the motive for the attack.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech power company CEZ signed a deal Tuesday with Britain’s Rolls-Royce SMR to form a strategic partnership to develop and deploy small modular nuclear reactors.

Under the agreement, CEZ will acquire a 20% share in Rolls-Royce SMR for which it will pay several billion Czech crowns (hundreds of millions of dollars).

CEZ plans to build the first small modular reactor at the existing Temelin nuclear plant in the first half of the 2030s.

The partnership is expected to result in up to 3 GW energy sources installed in the Czech Republic. CEZ will also participate in other projects by Rolls-Royce SMR in Europe and around the world.

The Czech state has an almost 70% stake in the company.

“It’s an important moment for ensuring energy security of the Czech Republic,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

A power plant using a small modular reactor by the British company should produce 470 MW for 60 years, CEZ said in a statement.

Small modular reactors are a type of nuclear reactor that can generate up to roughly one-third the amount of power of a traditional reactor. Developers say small reactors will be built faster and at a lower cost than large power reactors, scaling to fit the needs of a particular location.

The Czech Republic relies on six nuclear reactors to generate more than a third of its electricity and plans to rely on nuclear power and renewable resources after deciding to phase out coal for energy generation by 2033 to reduce carbon emissions.

CEZ is expected to sign a contract by March with South Korea’s KHNP to build at least two nuclear reactors in Czechia.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.