Memorial in Winnipeg on Sunday for judge, senator, TRC chair Murray Sinclair

Community members were left reeling Tuesday after tense protests at a Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area led to police intervention two nights in a row, the clashes adding fuel to already fiery Canada-India diplomatic relations.

Monday night saw hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Ont., where police allege people in the crowd were carrying weapons and objects were being thrown.

That demonstration came after violent protests on Sunday outside the same temple spilled over to two other locations in Mississauga, Ont.

Varsha Shah said she was attending a service at the temple with her family on Sunday night when the demonstrations broke out and attendees were told to stay inside for their safety.

Shah said she attends the Hindu Sabha temple regularly, and she had never seen conflict like this since moving to Canada from India 25 years ago.

“It feels very bad (and) I’m not an emotional person,” Shah said.

“We have to protect ourselves,” she said. “We live here peacefully. We don’t want to fight anybody.”

Shah added that she hopes the violence doesn’t discourage people from visiting the temple. “People have to not worry. Temple is safe.”

Groups that backed Monday’s demonstration suggested it came in response to the Sunday protest, which was initiated by Sikh separatists who seek an independent nation called Khalistan.

Peel Regional Police said the Monday evening demonstration converged at an intersection outside the temple, shutting down traffic along Gore Road in both directions.

Police said in a statement that the protest was “declared unlawful” after weapons were seen in the crowd. The force’s public order unit was deployed, leading to the groups’ dispersal late Monday night.

“Several hundred protesters from opposing sides raised tensions, and the event quickly escalated,” said police spokesperson Richard Chin. “During the evening, demonstrators were observed to have wooden sticks which could be used as weapons and items were thrown at cars and towards people.”

Peel police have asked for the public’s help to identify an individual who allegedly sprayed a “noxious substance” during Monday’s protests, leaving one person with minor injuries.

The World Sikh Organization of Canada condemned Monday’s protest.

“What occurred last night was deeply troubling and rooted in deliberate incitement,” the organization’s Ontario president, Jaspreet Kaur, said in a statement Tuesday, urging law enforcement to prosecute those who were involved.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown also denounced alleged calls for anti-Sikh violence at Monday’s demonstration.

“Agitators trying to incite violence need to be dealt with promptly and swiftly with the full extent of our hate laws,” he wrote in a Tuesday morning post on X.

Brown’s latest comments came after he urged demonstrators on both sides to “de-escalate” in the aftermath of Sunday’s protest outside the temple.

Brampton Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor, in whose ward the temple is located, encouraged those who have information about the violence to contact law enforcement.

“We need to make absolutely one thing clear: this is Canada. This kind of behaviour does not belong in Canada,” Toor told reporters outside the temple on Tuesday.

“It doesn’t matter which side of the equation you belong on, if you’re engaging in violent activity, action will be taken.”

Three people were arrested and a Peel police officer was suspended after Sunday’s demonstration, with social media videos seeming to show fist fights and people striking each other with poles on what appeared to be grounds of the temple.

Protests also took place at a temple in Surrey, B.C.

During question period in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “unequivocally” condemned the violence seen over the past two days in some South Asian communities.

“Let me be very, very clear: the individuals who are inciting violence and division and hatred in no way represent either the Sikh community or the Hindu community in Canada,” Trudeau said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he expects Canada to “ensure justice,” while calling Sunday’s protest in Brampton a deliberate attack on a Hindu temple and an attempt to intimidate diplomats.

The group Sikhs for Justice said that Khalistan supporters had been protesting Indian consulate officials who made an announced a visit to the Brampton temple to provide administrative services such as helping seniors access their pensions. The group alleged such visits are used to find informants to report on Khalistan supporters.

Canada expelled six Indian diplomats last month over allegations that they used their positions to collect information on Canadians in the Sikh separatist movement, and then passed the details on to criminal gangs who targeted the individuals directly.

India, which has rejected those allegations, has long accused Canada of harbouring terrorists involved in the Sikh separatist movement. Canadian officials have said related extradition requests from India often lack adequate proof.

Meanwhile, Brown has said he plans to bring a motion to city council to look at prohibiting protests at places of worship.

Similar bylaws have been considered in other regions in Ontario.

In the neighbouring municipality of Vaughan, city council unanimously approved a bylaw in June to prohibit “organizing or participating in a nuisance demonstration” within 100 metres of “vulnerable social infrastructure” such as places of worship, schools, child-care centres or hospitals.

Last week, Ottawa city council voted to study the feasibility of a similar bylaw, with plans for staff to report their findings by early next year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s businesses leaders are urging port employers and more than 700 unionized workers to resolve their dispute immediately as a lockdown paralyzes shipping along Canada’s west coast.

The BC Maritime Employers Association says no negotiations are scheduled a day after it launched what it calls a defensive lockout against members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514.

Locked-out workers have begun picketing outside terminals around the province, most of them in Metro Vancouver but also including about 70 workers in Prince Rupert and 20 in Nanaimo.

Dozens of workers wearing signs and waving blue union flags have set up a tarp shelter with folding chairs at the entrance of Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver, B.C., cheering as passing vehicles honked in support.

Greater Vancouver Board of Trade president Bridgitte Anderson says the work stoppage at the Port of Vancouver — Canada’s largest — comes at a critical time for the economy, and her organization is calling on the federal government to “intervene immediately.”

BC Chamber of Commerce president Fiona Famulak is urging employers, the union and Ottawa to “diligently to find a resolution quickly” to avoid inflicting any more harm on the Canadian economy.

“The BC Chamber of Commerce supports the right to collective bargaining,” Famulak said in a statement. “However, the inability of the ILWU and BCMEA to negotiate a new agreement and avoid another work stoppage at Canada’s largest port is disappointing.

“Our port infrastructure is too critical to the health and success of businesses and workers to have this dispute continue one moment longer.”

The employers and the workers represented by Local 514 have been without a contract since March 2023.

The dispute is over issues including port automation being introduced by port terminal operator DP World and what it would mean for unionized worker staffing levels.

There had been several days of mediated talks last week in an attempt to break the deadlock, but a “final offer” from the employers resulted in the union responding with a notice for strike action, which prompted the employers to lock out workers starting Monday.

The union has called the provincewide lockout an overreaction to its plans for implementing only an overtime ban, adding that it believes the employers are trying to force the federal government to intervene.

The employers, meanwhile, said they had to lock out workers because a strike notice allows the union to escalate job action without notice.

The employers association also said its final offer — which remains on the table — included a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year agreement ending in 2027 and presented a fair deal “that recognizes the skills and efforts of 730 hard-working forepersons and their families.”

The union said the offer did not address its concerns over minimum guaranteed staffing requirements, given that port automation has been introduced.

Union president Frank Morena has said the union’s negotiators are ready to re-engage in talks at any time.

The lockout is the latest in a number of disruptions at the Port of Vancouver this year, with a work stoppage at both major national railways and pickets going up at grain terminals hindering shipping through the port in the summer and fall.

A 13-day strike froze trade through B.C. ports in July 2023.

Anderson said the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade launched a Port Shutdown Calculator during the 2023 work stoppage to illustrate the economic costs, and the web page had been relaunched in the latest dispute.

“It is imperative that the Canadian government prioritizes economic growth, supply chain, stability, trade and investment, particularly at this critical time,” Anderson said, noting the U.S. presidential election and the likelihood of protectionist policies requiring Canada to up its game in the global trade market.

“We need to ensure that we show we have stable supply chains and that we are a reliable trading partner and that our economy is growing,” she said. “That has not been the narrative over the last couple of years, and so it is very concerning.”

The Board of Trade said the latest port shutdown would disrupt $800 million worth of goods daily, with every hour of the closure fuelling inflation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

MONTREAL – Canadians from coast to coast gathered Tuesday with a mixture of excitement and anxiety to watch one of the biggest political shows on Earth: the U.S. election results.

Community centres, theatres, bars, restaurants and homes across Canada turned televisions to U.S. networks Tuesday as vote counts rolled in.

All eyes were glued to an onstage television at Lithuanian House community centre in Toronto, where more than 100 people gathered for an event organized by Democrats Abroad. With final opinion polls suggesting a close race between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, attendees said they came to cheer on Harris even as some considered the chances of the race being called that night to be slim.

John Roberts, an American who has been living in Canada for nearly two decades, said he was feeling “nauseously optimistic” about a Democrat victory.

“What brought me here tonight is really an opportunity to show my support for Kamala Harris tonight and the rest of the Democratic ticket,” said Roberts, who cast his vote in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

“It is a pivotal election for us, for the future, and I am just glad to be part of it.”

Kate Cohen, a Michigan voter who has lived in Canada for 26 years, said she was hoping to “celebrate or commiserate” with like-minded people.

Cohen said she has voted in every election since moving to Canada.

“It is a right, and it is a privilege, and I don’t think anybody should throw it away or treat it lightly,” she said.

At a pub on Saint Mary’s University campus in Halifax, the lineup for drinks grew longer as the evening progressed and results started to roll in. A cheer erupted from one booth as Trump was declared the winner in Kentucky, and more cheers followed from other tables as Bernie Sanders was declared re-elected in his Senate race as an independent in Vermont.

At McLean’s Public House in downtown Montreal, televisions switched back and forth between sports channels and CNN as hockey fans in Habs jerseys mixed with politics watchers. A staffer at a microphone, warming up the crowd for trivia, drew a loud cheer when he asked how many were rooting for Harris. The same question, about Trump, drew silence and scattered laughs.

Bar customer Ian Campbell said he was feeling “extremely worried” about the prospect of a Trump victory.

“Trump can do some serious damage, not only to the United States, but serious damage to the world,” he said, evoking the possibility of Trump pulling back from NATO and withdrawing support to Ukraine.

He said he is disappointed with both presidential candidates on some issues, including what he sees as a failure to help Palestinians in Gaza.

“I think that Harris is just a safer option and I dearly hope that she wins,” he said.

In Ottawa, U.S. Ambassador David Cohen joined join politicos and diplomats at the Metropolitain Brasserie, just steps from Parliament Hill, where he delivered brief remarks.

The Canadian International Council is holding parties for its members in Ottawa and Victoria, with the B.C. event including a trivia contest about the U.S. election.

In Windsor, Ont., people gathered at the Bourbon Tap and Grill on Ottawa Street — many of whom were involved in a door-knocking campaign to get Americans living in the city to vote.

About 600,000 people who are eligible to vote in the U.S. election live in Canada, the largest number outside the United States, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

One of those is Beth Boyd, who attended a Democrats Abroad watch party at The Pleasant in Vancouver. Boyd, who has lived in Canada for about 15 years, said she mailed in her vote “about two months ago.”

“I’m from Michigan, so it’s very important, I feel,” she said of voting. “Either way it’s important but especially in Michigan because it’s a swing state — or it was last time.”

Boyd said she is hoping for a Democrat win, adding that she hasn’t been to a Democrats Abroad watch party since Donald Trump won in 2016.

“I want a do-over to make it right this time,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

— with files from Sharif Hassan in Toronto, Cassidy McMackon in Halifax and Brieanna Charlebois in Vancouver