Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fora diplomatic chill with India, saying Ottawa needs a “professional relationship” with the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, Modi’s government says it is upset with the federal Liberals and not Canada as a whole.
Trudeau announced in the House of Commons last month that Canadian intelligence services are investigating “credible” information about “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
“It’s fine to have our disagreements and to hold each other accountable, but we have to have a professional relationship with the Indian government,” Poilievre told Namaste Radio Toronto in a video posted online Saturday afternoon.
Poilievre also blamed Trudeau for the “aggression shown to Indian diplomats at public events.”
Earlier this year, before Trudeau’s revelation regarding the Nijjar case, India lamented rowdy protests by Sikh separatist groups outside diplomatic missions in Canada, and posters offering cash rewards for the home addresses of India’s diplomats.
New Delhi formally called on Canada to better uphold its duty to protect foreign diplomats and in late August, India’s high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, said his country was “very satisfied” that the Liberal government had responded appropriately and that its diplomats were secure.
Poilievre claims in the interview that Trudeau is turning Canadians against each other, citing vandalism at Hindu places of worship.
“I strongly condemn all threats on the attacks on Hindu mandirs, the threats against Hindu leaders,” Poilievre told Namaste Radio Toronto.
“There should be criminal charges laid against anyone who attacks either the property or people at Hindu mandirs, just like anywhere else.”
Poilievre did not cite a specific example, but he mentioned a month ago on X, formerly known as Twitter, “hateful comments targeting Hindus in Canada” that he said needed to be called out.
In the interview, Poilievre did not mention the Nijjar case, nor did the interviewer ask about it. Poilievre has previously said that those responsible for the homicide must be prosecuted, and has urged Trudeau to provide more of its information on the case.
“Justin Trudeau is considered a laughingstock in India, the world’s biggest democracy,” Poilievre said in his interview.
His office declined to comment about the interview Monday.
Poilievre did not directly mention Sikhs in Canada, nor a subset of those communities who advocate for a separate state in India they call Khalistan.
But the World Sikh Organization in Canada argues Poilievre is indirectly pointing the finger at Sikhs.
“We’re talking about the violation of Canadian sovereignty and the assassination of Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, (allegedly) by India,” the group’s lawyer Balpreet Singh said.
“I’m very disappointed to see His Majesty’s loyal opposition leader siding with a hostile foreign government against Canadian intelligence, Five Eyes intelligence and frankly the memory of a dead Canadian citizen.”
Singh said his group condemns calls for violence against Hindu people, but he said Poilievre is siding with New Delhi against Canadian interests.
“We shouldn’t be playing politics with a matter of this gravity,” he said.
“The situation is not a result of Prime Minister Trudeau’s actions or individuals in the Sikh community who have spoken out against Indian diplomats.”
Also this past weekend, India’s foreign affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said his country might end its freeze on Canadian visas if Canada better ensures the safety of Indian diplomats.
“We stopped issuing visas in Canada because it was no longer safe for our diplomats to go to work to issue visas,” Jaishankar claimed on Sunday, despite his own envoy to Ottawa saying otherwise.
“Our diplomats are not safe. If we see progress there, I would like very much to resume the issuing of visas. My hope would be that it would be something which would happen very, very soon.”
Jaishankar also claimed that New Delhi’s decision to reduce Canada’s diplomatic presence in India — leading to the majority being removed from the country — was the result of unspecified meddling by Canada in India.
“We invoked parity because we had concerns about continuous interference in our affairs by Canadian personnel,” he said.
“We haven’t made much of that public. My sense is over a period of time, more stuff will come out and people will understand why we had that discomfort with many of them.”
India’s envoy to Canada said on Aug. 31 that “we feel very satisfied” with Ottawa’s response to a request for better protection. “Our concerns have been taken on board. It has been well understood,” Verma said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly revealed on Sept. 14 that Indian diplomats in Canada “have 24/7 security,” which is a service Ottawa offers to very few diplomatic missions.
Jaishankar also said Sunday he takes issue with the federal Liberals. “The problems we have are with a certain segment of Canadian politics, and the policies which flow from that,” he said.
University of British Columbia professor Vina Nadjibulla said that’s the first time India has ever explicitly indicated its issues with Canada fall along political lines.
“It’s quite surprising, for a foreign secretary like Jaishankar to say that essentially pointing at the Liberal government and at the prime minister himself,” she said.
Nadjibulla said she’s seen “troubling” posters around Surrey, B.C., that call for violence toward Indian government officials.
“The challenge that countries that have large diasporas of Sikh communities have is to obviously protect freedoms of expression and freedom of assembly, but also recognize that there is a serious concern for India when it comes to this issue,” she said.
“We have to engage both sides.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2023.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
