India’s decision to revoke diplomatic immunity for dozens of Canadian diplomats is making life “unbelievably difficult” for millions of people with ties to that country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.
Trudeau made the remarks in Brampton Ont. a day after his government confirmed that 41 Canadian diplomats had left India after New Delhi threatened to revoke their diplomatic immunity.
“This is a violation of the Vienna Convention governing diplomacy,” Trudeau said. “This is them choosing to contravene a very fundamental principle of international law and diplomacy. It is something that all countries in the world should be very worried about.
“It also has very real impacts on the millions of people who travel back and forth between India, as students, as family members, for weddings, for businesses, for the growing trade ties between our countries.”
Canadian diplomats left India after two weeks of negotiations between India and Canada prompted by India’s demand for “parity” in the number of diplomats present in the two countries, a source with knowledge of the situation told CBC News.
India’s move on diplomats ‘contrary to international law,’ PM says
Featured VideoPrime 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.
That demand was part of an angry reaction by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Trudeau’s allegation last month that Indian agents were involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, B.C. on June 18.
Trudeau said India’s actions are “making it unbelievably difficult” for “millions of Canadians who trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent.”
Government officials said that 45 per cent of Canada’s international students, 27 per cent of new permanent residents and 22 per cent of temporary foreign workers come from India.
“This is something that has far-reaching consequences for the diplomatic world that I know many, many countries are very worried about,” Trudeau added.
India says it’s following international law
On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly issued a statement confirming that 41 diplomats and their 42 dependents were pulled from the country before their diplomatic immunity could be revoked.
Joly’s statement said that if countries are allowed to break diplomatic conventions, “no diplomat anywhere would be safe.”
Pulling those diplomats, Joly said, will have impacts on the consular services that can be offered on the ground in India. All in-person services at consulates in India have been paused until further notice.
“Five [Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada] staff remain in India and will focus on work that requires an in-country presence such as urgent processing, visa printing, risk assessment and overseeing key partners, including visa application centres, panel physicians and clinics that perform immigration medical exams,” Joly’s statement said.
The Government of India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded to Joly’s statement Friday.
“The state of our bilateral relations, the much higher number of Canadian diplomats in India, and their continued interference in our internal affairs warrant a parity in mutual diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Ottawa,” the statement said.
The Indian government insisted that demanding parity in the number of diplomats present in each country is consistent with the Vienna Convention.
“We reject any attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms,” the statement said.
Canada has said that it will respect “diplomatic norms and not reciprocate this action.”
Number of Indian diplomats disputed
India claimed to have only 21 accredited diplomats in Canada and said Canada had 62 in its High Commission in New Delhi and four consulates in Mumbai, Chandigarh and Bengaluru.
Canadian officials have questioned India’s arithmetic, which they say does not give an accurate picture of the respective sizes of the two diplomatic missions.
India’s claim to have only 21 accredited diplomats in Canada also appears to conflict with the registry of accredited foreign representatives in Canada, which shows that India has 60 in Canada.
Canada’s allies have started speaking out against India’s move to strip diplomats of their immunity.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the U.S. is “concerned” about the 41 diplomats’ departure form India.
“Resolving differences requires diplomats on the ground. We have urged the Indian government not to insist upon a reduction in Canada’s diplomatic presence and to cooperate in the ongoing Canadian investigation,” Matthew Miller said in a media statement.
The U.K. High Commission in Ottawa issued an almost identical statement.
“The unilateral removal of the privileges and immunities that provide for the safety and security of diplomats is not consistent with the principles or the effective functioning of the Vienna Convention,” the statement said.
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.
