India was quick to respond to Ottawa expelling an Indian diplomat amid allegations that New Delhi was involved in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader on Canadian soil, responding in kind with an expulsion of their own.
Indian officials, calling the allegations “absurd” and “unsubstantiated,” summoned Canada’s High Commissioner to India to inform him that senior Canadian diplomat has been kicked out of India and given five days to leave the country. CBC News has confirmed reports in Indian media saying the Canadian diplomat facing expulsion is Olivier Sylvestre.
The tit-for-tat response, on the heels of Ottawa expelling Indian diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai, was accompanied by a strongly-worded statement accusing Canada of interfering in India’s internal affairs.
In a separate statement, Narendra Modi’s government said the allegations were politically motivated and repeated a long-standing criticism: that Canadian officials aren’t concerned by the actions of “Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
India expels Canadian diplomat after Trudeau’s assassination claim
India’s foreign ministry says it has expelled a Canadian diplomat with five days’ notice to leave the country. The move comes after Canada ordered the expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusation that the Indian government was involved in the fatal shooting of a Canadian Sikh leader.
Canada is home to the largest Sikh diaspora community.
Tensions between Canada and India have grown increasingly frosty in recent months, following the June shooting death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and after several informal referendum votes held by the U.S.-based group Sikhs for Justice on whether a separate Sikh state called Khalistan should be formed.
Nijjar was a wanted man in India, designated as a terrorist in 2020.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, second from right, stands outside of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 (Ben Nelms/CBC)
‘Bad blood’
“Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
While the allegations may have brought about a rare moment of unity among Ottawa’s political parties, with all leaders condemning the killing and calling for answers about the intelligence that national security advisors have deemed “credible,” it did the same in India, but with the opposite view — that the allegations are motivated more by domestic political concerns.
India’s main opposition Congress Party echoed the Modi government’s stance, saying on X, formerly known as Twitter, that India’s “fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising.”
The allegations and deepening diplomatic row between India and Canada brought heightened security outside Canada’s High Commission in New Delhi, with more police officers deployed to protect the building.
New Delhi-based geopolitical analyst Brahma Chellaney called Trudeau’s allegations “astounding.”
A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey is seen on Monday. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)
The professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research noted that this is the first time India has been accused of “carrying out an assassination on Western soil, even though India has been the victim of a host of major terrorist attacks, including one that originated in Canada.”
“Canadian security agencies have yet to find evidence of any Indian involvement in the killing [of Nijjar],” said Chellaney, who is a former member of India’s National Security Advisory Board.
The prime minister only spoke of “a potential link with India,” Chellaney noted. “Why would [Trudeau] then make an allegation at this stage?”
Chellaney said the accusations have plunged the bilateral relationship between the two countries to an all-time low, and he doesn’t see it getting better anytime soon.
“There has been bad blood between Trudeau and New Delhi for a long time.”
Canada’s statement was rushed, some say:
On the streets of Mumbai, quieter than usual as many observed the beginning of a holy festival honouring one of the Hindu gods Ganesh, some people said Canada rushed into making a statement without presenting more solid facts.
“The easiest thing for a person is to accuse somebody, the toughest part is to find a solution,” said Mumbai resident Vanish Kapoor, 48, walking with his wife Ritu.
‘Absurd and motivated’: India responds to allegations it killed Canadian
The Indian government responded to allegations it was involved in the killing of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C., calling them ‘absurd and motivated,’ while also accusing Canadian officials of sheltering ‘Khalistani extremists.’
“I think Mr. Trudeau should have… investigated and if he could have proved that India is behind it, that is the time he should have issued a statement,” Kapoor told CBC News.
“But he issued a statement just [out of] thin air.”
Others also said they believed the tense relations between Canada and India will only get worse.
“[The allegations] will definitely create differences,” said 26-year-old Jasmine Arya.
“There’s a direct impact to it and I think these need to be more researched before going and saying such things on the public forum,” she added.
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
