B.C. NDP leader David Eby took a break from campaigning Monday to address stunning new allegations from the RCMP that Indian diplomats and consular officials are linked to violent criminal activity on Canadian soil.
Eby, who said he heard the troubling allegations against New Delhi for the first time Monday along with other Canadians, assured British Columbians that police will be given all the resources they need to “hold those involved accountable.”
“Our province’s strength is the fact that people come here from around the world and they can be safe and build a good life for themselves and their families. Anything that threatens that is a threat to all of us,” Eby said.
Read more: RCMP alleges Indian officials in Canada connected to extortion, homicides
At a Thanksgiving Day news conference, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said he was making the rare move of revealing information about an ongoing investigation “due to the significant threat to public safety in our country.”
Since Mounties formed a multi-jurisdiction team earlier this year to investigate threats against the South Asian community, especially those in the Sikh diaspora, police have uncovered “a significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the Government of India, and consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada.”
That includes finding links between agents of the Indian government and homicides and other violent acts, Mounties say.
Eby told reporters he spoke to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and that he asked for their assurance federal investigators will continue to work with police in B.C. to ensure justice is served. “They have of course assured me that will be the case,” he said.
When asked for the specifics of what LeBlanc shared, Eby said he was told, “there is credible evidence that the government of India, through agents in Canada, has been involved in homicides—plural, extortions—plural, acts of violence against Canadians, (and) acts of intimidation against Canadians with an aim of advancing the interests of the governments of India.”
“This is obviously a very serious allegation,” he added. “I am certain that he would not be raising these issues, the RCMP would not be holding a press conference if this wasn’t serious and credible information.”
Eby urged anyone who has been the target of threats or extortion to contact police and help further the investigation. “And we can weed it out, because we don’t want it here.”
Monday’s developments mark the latest in an escalating confrontation between India and Canada that kicked off publicly last year when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was investigating credible allegations that agents of the government of India were involved in the killing of prominent Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.
In response to the latest allegations, Canada announced it was expelling six Indian diplomats connected to a “targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India.”
In what appears to be a tit-for-tat retaliation, India announced it is expelling six Canadian diplomats, including the top two diplomats stationed in New Delhi.
With files from CTV News’ Brennan MacDonald