Politics

Canadian Sikh chief was killed in B.C. in June


Posted: 1 Hour Ago
Last Updated: 43 Minutes Ago

An image of Hardeep Singh Nijjar at a protest outdoors of the Consulate General of India’s workplace on June 24, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadian intelligence companies are investigating “credible” details about “a potential link” between the federal government of India and the homicide of Nijjar. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)

Ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his bombshell allegation that Canada has “credible intelligence” linking brokers of the Indian authorities to the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, questions have been gathering about what, if any, protections have been supplied to Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Sikh chief was shot lifeless outdoors a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18 and reportedly had been warned by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that he was in danger.

Nijjar, a supporter of a Sikh homeland within the type of

an independent Khalistani state
, had been branded a “terrorist” by the Indian authorities and accused of main a militant separatist group — one thing his supporters have denied.

According to

reporting by Global News
, Nijjar’s buddies stated CSIS had instructed him it had data that he was “under threat from professional assassins.”

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc deferred questions on private safety preparations to the RCMP.

“The individual decisions by law enforcement agencies around who receives police protection are made by police officials, not by ministers,” he instructed reporters after leaving a cupboard assembly Tuesday.

“I have every confidence in the RCMP, based on my extensive conversations with their leadership over the last number of months, that they have the resources necessary and the plans in place to protect Canadians.”


WATCH: RCMP’s capability to guard Canadians questioned
 


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Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he has ‘confidence’ within the RCMP’s capability to guard Canadians after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s authorities of being concerned within the killing of Sikh chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.  2:42

The RCMP has not but responded to questions on whether or not Nijjar was supplied with any safety.

LeBlanc stated he has instructed CSIS to share its intelligence with the suitable regulation enforcement businesses.

Lives are in danger: Singh

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stated he needs to see a plan going ahead to raised shield these on India’s radar. 

“Giving someone awareness of, or a briefing on potential threats without having a clear plan to protect them, is I think a failure,” he stated.

“There are people whose lives are at risk right now.” 

Mukhbir Singh of the World Sikh Organization known as on the Canadian authorities to raised shield the group.

“There have been a number of cases where officials have warned them that there was a threat to their life,” he instructed a information convention Tuesday.

Singh stated he hopes the not too long ago introduced public inquiry into overseas election interference may also look at defending diaspora communities.

“When we look into foreign interference and the role of that in Canada, it goes hand-in-hand at looking at the physical protection that is needed for certain Canadians here,” he stated.


WATCH | Few choices in seek for solutions on India killing allegations 
 


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Richard Fadden, a former CSIS director, says Canada’s want for accountability across the killing of Sikh chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, is ‘totally cheap.’ But he says there are few choices to really maintain India to account because the worldwide system ‘limits what we will do.’  1:54

Dick Fadden, former director of CSIS and a former nationwide safety adviser to 2 prime ministers, stated the Canadian authorities must get higher at defending at-risk communities.

“Have they done enough? I personally don’t think they have done enough. The Sikh community certainly don’t think they’ve done enough,” he stated. 

“I think we may have to be more aggressive in Canada in monitoring representatives of other states and various communities to make sure that we can offer them protection. Because if a state can’t do that and protect its own citizens, there’s a fundamental issue.”

Trudeau despatched shock waves all over the world when he stood within the House of Commons on Monday and accused the Indian authorities of enjoying a task within the brazen killing of Nijjar.

“We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them,” Trudeau instructed reporters Tuesday earlier than a cupboard assembly.

“The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness.”


WATCH | Ex-CSIS boss says overseas interference must be a ‘main precedence’


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Canada must tackle overseas interference as a precedence — and ensure steps are being taken to guard individuals from it, says former CSIS director Richard Fadden.  1:43

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catharine Tunney

Reporter

Catharine Tunney is a reporter with CBC’s Parliament Hill bureau, the place she covers nationwide safety and the RCMP. She labored beforehand for CBC in Nova Scotia. You can attain her at catharine.tunney@cbc.ca