Lebanese Christian group denies Hezbollah claim it planned Beirut bloodshed

OTTAWA – India’s consulate in Toronto is suspending some of its diplomatic visits to process paperwork at places like religious temples after violence between Sikh and Hindu people.

The violence started Sunday outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Ont., where police allege people in the crowd were carrying weapons and throwing objects.

The next day there were tense protests outside the temple, leading to another police intervention and calls to ban protests at Brampton religious sites.

The clashes have involved Hindu groups clashing with Sikh separatists, who have protested visits by Indian consular officials to process paperwork for matters such as pensions.

The violence has further heightened tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi after Canada expelled six Indian diplomats last month when the RCMP flagged them as persons of interest in alleged crimes against Canadians.

India’s Toronto consulate says it’s suspending some of its announced site visits, but did not specify which ones have been cancelled.

“In view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community-camp organizers, (the Toronto) consulate has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps,” the consulate said in a post on X.

The consulate’s website lists planned visits in places like Brampton, Mississauga, Halifax, Windsor and London, Ont.

India’s high commission in Canada did not immediately respond when asked if its Ottawa mission or Vancouver consulate had also suspended consular visits. Officials in those missions have announced what they call “consular camps” across the Prairies this weekend, as well as in Montreal and parts of British Columbia later this month.

Sikh separatists, who advocate for an independent country called Khalistan to be carved out of India, have alleged Indian diplomats use their temple visits to recruit informants to target Khalistan supporters.

While the Canadian government has refused to identify the diplomats it expelled, the federal government does maintain a database of diplomats who are accredited to Canada. That database was updated a week after the expulsions were announced on Oct. 14, and six names that were previously on the list had been removed.

That includes High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Toronto consul general Siddhartha Nath. The websites of each Indian mission now list interim replacements for both positions.

The database also previously included Bikram Pal Singh Bhatty, a first secretary at the Ottawa high commission, as well as Toronto consular officer Dheeraj Pareek, Vancouver consular officer Rahul Negi and a Vancouver consular employee named Kanwaljit Singh.

Global Affairs Canada would not confirm whether those were the names of the six diplomats who were expelled.

“We are not in a position to provide the names of the six Indian diplomats that are now considered persona non grata. We can confirm that they have left Canada,” wrote spokeswoman Clémence Grevey.

India’s foreign ministry listed the names and ranks of the six Canadian diplomats it also expelled; both countries claimed they had ordered expulsions first.

Yet the spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, refused to identify the six diplomats Canada expelled, when asked at an Oct. 17 press conference.

“For various reasons, we don’t want to reveal their names to you,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – A parliamentary committee is calling on the government to change how it handles permits for temporary workers after a UN report said the system creates “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.”

The citizenship and immigration committee released a report on Wednesday calling on Ottawa to work with the provinces to establish permits that allow temporary workers to find work in a specific region or sector.

Right now, most temporary workers have closed permits that tie them to a single employer.

The committee’s report found that system creates conditions that can lead to exploitation and abuse.

NDP MPs Jenny Kwan and Matthew Green say the government needs to take this a step further by allowing all temporary workers access to open work permits in an effort to prevent abuse.

“The reality is, if you’re tied to one specific employer, you are really at their behest to do what they demand of you,” Kwan said.

“No matter what the abuse is, no matter if you’re faced with wage theft, with harassment, with violence, for women, with sexual harassment — you just have to live with it.”

She said the least the federal government can do to curb abuse in the temporary worker system is end the closed work permit system.

The committee also recommended increasing the number of unexpected, on-site workplace inspections and developing a plan to provide more permanent residency pathways to low-wage and agricultural workers.

More than half of workplace inspections take place virtually, according to the report.

These inspections uncovered a 36 per cent increase in non-compliant employers in the last fiscal year, resulting in more than $2 million in fines. The vast majority of employers were found to be in compliance with program rules.

Elizabeth Kwan, a senior researcher with the Canadian Labour Congress and no relation to MP Kwan, testified during the committee’s hearings. She said its recommendations “tinker at the edges” of problems like worker abuse.

“The system discourages employers from improving job quality like wages and working conditions and investing in technology. What it does is that it allows the continued reliance on underpaid and vulnerable workers,” she said.

The government is making changes to the temporary worker program, most recently focused on making it harder for employers to get applications approved to hire temporary workers.

Those changes take effect Friday, raising the minimum for high-wage applications to 20 per cent above a province or territory’s hourly wage.

Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the committee report’s findings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – A social media influencer who declined to answer questions about an alleged Russian plot to sow division among the public is a step closer to being sanctioned by Parliament.

New Democrat MP Alistair MacGregor has asked House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus to consider whether Lauren Chen’s refusal to answer questions at a Commons committee meeting amounts to a breach of privilege.

Chen, who is Canadian, was summoned to appear at the public safety and national security committee as part of its study of Russian interference and disinformation campaigns in Canada.

Before Chen’s appearance Tuesday, her lawyer advised the committee she would read a prepared statement but would not respond to questions, citing a right to avoid incriminating herself.

A U.S. indictment filed in September charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a US$10-million scheme that purportedly used social media personalities to distribute content with Russian government messaging.

While not explicitly mentioned in court documents, the details match up with Tenet Media, founded by Chen and Liam Donovan, who is identified as her husband on social media.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.