One day after senior government officials downplayed threats of foreign interference and transnational repression by India, one Liberal MP and members of the Sikh community are pushing back against that assessment.
“I strongly condemn these remarks made by the government official because the claim is very disconnected from the reality the community is facing on the ground,” Liberal B.C. MP Sukh Dhaliwal said in an interview with CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos on Thursday.
“And also, it contradicts with the assessments of Canada’s national security and law enforcement agencies,” he added.
Asked by Kapelos whether he has been presented evidence to support the claim, Dhaliwal said: “Not at all.”
“This official is totally out of touch,” Dhaliwal said. “He’s sitting in Ottawa bubble and does not know what’s going on the ground.”
On Wednesday, ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to India, senior government officials told reporters in a background briefing that Carney would not be travelling to India if the federal government believed India was actively interfering in the Canadian democratic process.
A second official, who also could not be named, said Canada has the “right mechanisms to detect and disrupt threats.”
“I really don’t think we’d be taking this trip if we thought these kind of activities were continuing,” that official said.
In an interview with CTV News’ chief political correspondent Vassy Kapelos on Thursday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked repeatedly to respond to what the senior government officials said, but he would not answer directly.
“As I’m sure you can appreciate, I’ve been very busy with passing the budget, which is going to pass today,” Champagne said. “I’m not saying I heard about some references to comments made, but public safety is always top of mind.”
The finance minister will be joining Carney on his trip to India.
‘A miscalculation’ by the federal government
Canada’s largest Sikh organizations held a joint press conference in Surrey, B.C. on Thursday, and pushed back against the assessment from senior government officials.
“(The federal government) figured they could get away with it in the midst of all this violence that’s happening now,” said Moninder Singh, head of the Sikh Federation of Canada.
“I don’t see how you can make that without actually just thinking that the Sikh community are idiots that are just going to go quiet and get out of the way, and I think that’s a miscalculation on their part,” Singh also said.
During the press conference, Sikh activists pointed to a recent police warning to Singh about a credible threat to his life, along with his wife and children.
Global News was first to report that threat.
How is CSIS responding?
The comments from senior government officials appear to contradict recent assessments from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
In November, CSIS Director Dan Rogers pointed to national security threats posed by countries, including India, in his first public speech since his appointment.
Meanwhile, in a CSIS report released last June, the agency accused India of being one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage in Canada.
The report called links between the Government of India and the 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar a “significant escalation in India’s repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America.” It also warned Canada had to remain vigilant about continued foreign interference by the Government of India.
India has continued to deny the allegations.
But in a statement to CTV News on Thursday, when asked whether India is still engaging in foreign interference, CSIS spokesperson Magali Hébert did not specifically address the latest comments from senior government officials.
“Every day, CSIS is monitoring, collecting intelligence and preventing any number of threats,” the statement reads in part. “CSIS takes all allegations of foreign interference and transnational repression seriously and we consider threats in a country-agnostic way. This hasn’t changed.”
Hebert also said CSIS would only speak publicly about threats, when it is in Canada’s interest and when it’s needed to ensure national security.
The RCMP also would not comment directly to CTV News on Wednesday’s comments from government officials.
“As Canada’s federal police force, the RCMP is responsible for investigating incidents of foreign interference across Canada, including illegal activities relating to state-backed threats targeting communities and members of the public,” the statement reads.
“For operational integrity and security, we will not provide further information on these investigations until charges have been laid and it’s a matter of public record.”
In the fall of 2024, the RCMP accused Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada of engaging in clandestine activities linked to serious criminal activity in this country, including homicides and extortions.
While the initial report by Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue following the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference pointed to China as the “most persistent and sophisticated foreign interference threat to Canada,” the commissioner’s final report last January lays out the ways in which India has become the “second most active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada.”
With files from CTV News’ Annie Bergeron-Oliver and Rachel Aiello
