Debates of Sept. 19th, 2023

Allegations Against Government of India

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Madam Chair, I hear from constituents in the riding of Waterloo and I hear about the things on their minds. When something is on their mind it is on my mind, because my job is to represent them. I have some good friends and a very close uncle who live in the member's riding. I do want to commend the member on his speech today. It was very personal, and it reminds me of the Canada we know exists and is here. That means that we all stand together and we make sure that we take care of each other.

With that, I would like to hear from the member as to what advice and guidance he is offering to Canadians at this time. We know that we have an independent judicial system; we know that action is being taken; we know that the government wants to see that action taken, but what is the best thing for Canadians to do at this time, especially Canadians of Indian descent, of Sikh faith and Punjabi-speaking communities? What is his advice to all those people?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Madam Chair, our national anthem says, “stand on guard for thee”, and I think it is important that we stand on guard for each other, that we protect each other and that when one of us is hurt or one of us killed, we stand up and we show up. That is the very basic thing that Canadians expect from us, that we rally together, show up, support each other and stand in solidarity.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam.

When I first learned of these allegations, they shocked me, and when I thought about these allegations even further, I became very angry. A Canadian citizen was killed in Canada by a foreign government. Those are the allegations. That should shock and anger all of us. There is no other response. A Canadian is alleged to have been killed in our country by a foreign government.

This is a time for unity. This is a time for unwavering commitment and to let people know that. These are people who are now very afraid and who have seen a foreign government step into our sovereign nation and killed someone. We have to send a message that this is wrong. This can never happen in our country, and there will be the most severe consequences, using the full weight of the judicial system of our country and using the full weight of our security apparatus, to ensure that every single person implicated in this matter is found, brought to justice and prosecuted with the full weight and power of the Canadian justice system. That is what needs to happen.

We need solidarity. A Canadian was killed. That means everyone in this House should stand together and say we demand justice and we demand action.

It is a fundamental attack not just on our sovereignty, but on our freedom of speech and right to be secure and safe. It is a fundamental right that every Canadian should be safe in their country and should be free to express their thoughts, to express dissent, to criticize and to critique our country and other countries' policies and decisions of government. That is absolutely what it means to be in a democracy.

Let us also be clear that there is a significant propaganda machine that the Government of India has put in motion. Let us talk about the Government of India and separate it from the people of India. We do not hold the people of India guilty for the actions of the government. The people of India, in a sense, have contributed immensely to this country. New Canadians who come from India and South Asia have contributed in so many ways and in so many sectors, whether it is in health care, in business, in the arts or in the cultural sector in the communities we all live in. They have contributed immensely.

Our concern is specifically about the allegations involving the Government of India. For a moment, let us reflect on what the Government of India is about. We are talking about its Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. This is a Prime Minister who was once chief minister of Gujarat and was implicated in the massacre of thousands of Muslims.

This is a current government that makes no qualms about wanting to divide the country, exclude minority communities and oppress critics, academics and journalists. There is the systemic oppression of women, minority communities, the poor and those of low caste. This is a government that is rife with human rights violations.

It really begs the question when we see other parties, like the Conservative Party, try to stand up and parrot the propaganda of the India government: Whose side are they on? Who are they trying to defend? We should see solidarity in defending Canadians and a Canadian who was killed.

We have a number of things we want to ask for, and this is what I want to make clear. For now, what we are calling for are a number of concrete steps.

First and foremost, I wrote a letter to the commissioner of the public inquiry to indicate that India now must be included in the public inquiry. We need protections offered to anyone who has received threats to their lives. We need to make sure there are diplomatic sanctions and a review of all diplomats from India in Canada. The RSS, which is a paramilitary, far-right network from India, must be banned in Canada.

We need to take the threat to Canadians seriously. We need to see serious action. This is a call to arms for us to defend our democracy, to defend our freedom of expression, to defend our freedoms in this country and to use the weight of a democratic nation and our allies to defend justice, to defend freedom and to defend the security and liberty of life.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, as the leader of a much smaller opposition party, for me it is a moment for solidarity. I really appreciate the fact that I am able, through great good luck, to immediately follow my friend from Burnaby South, the leader of the New Democratic Party, to echo his words that we need to show solidarity, and that every Canadian from every ethnicity and every part of the world who has found their way here to our country needs to feel welcomed and know they are valued. Of course we recognize that we are on lands that we have stolen from indigenous peoples. The majority of the Canadian population came from somewhere else.

I have found the speeches from colleagues and friends about their own journeys and their families' journeys to these shores to be very moving. We do unify as Canadians. I just want to thank the hon. leader of the New Democratic Party for his words.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, I thank the member for her kind words. I want to send a message to people right now who are thinking about what this means for them. It is to people who might be afraid, who might be scared, and who might be worried about their advocacy, their human rights work or their critique of the Indian government, or any other diaspora community. There are those who are wondering, if they criticize their country of origin's government policies, that they might fear violence against them as well. I want to send a message that I stand with them, and we will not back down. We will remain unwavering and resolute in our pursuit of justice.

We believe that right now the pursuit of justice and ensuring that those responsible will be brought to justice will deter this from happening. That has to be our goal. This should never happen again in our country. No Canadian should lose their life in this way. That is what our commitment is, to ensure that this never happens again.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Chair, the hon. leader of the NDP mentioned the intimidation by the Indian government when someone speaks out against human rights violations. I can say that he has faced many challenges.

I will give a personal example. When I presented a petition on genocide in 2010, I was denied a visa to India for three years. I want to know from the leader if he is aware of many situations like this of oppression and intimidation, including of himself.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, I thank the member for sharing the personal story.

As elected officials, we sign up for being in the public eye and maybe receiving repercussions for the positions we take, but we are also protected as members of Parliament. I am deeply concerned, as the member pointed out, that there are so many people from so many diaspora communities, including those in the Sikh community who critique the abuse that Sikhs have received under the Indian government, but there are many other diaspora communities. They are not just from India and not just other folks who have been oppressed in India.

I think about the Iranian community and those who have raised their voice about the oppression that their community faces in Iran. I think about those who have championed democracy in Hong Kong and are defending the rights of Taiwan, and of the real and serious threats that they have had against their families. This is a serious moment. We know that those threats exist.

We know that Canadians have been threatened and intimidated, and we know that we have a responsibility in the House to say enough is enough and that it will not happen in our country. We will use all the tools we have to get to the bottom of this. We will use the power of light to shine transparency on what happened and ensure that this never happens again to any community anywhere in our country.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Madam Chair, I have been reflecting on and talking to many of my constituency members about the murder or assassination that happened at the gurdwara, the Sikh temple of worship. It is appalling to see that Conservatives will come to the temple, will walk with us in solidarity in our Nagar Kirtan parade, but today cannot stand in solidarity with Canadians in this horrific crime. What does the member have to say about how the community feels and how this assassination occurred at the holy Sikh temple in Surrey?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, when we first learned about this incident back in June, there was a real pain the community. It is a place of prayer, a place of worship and a place of community coming together. Gurdwaras have free langar, a place where people can eat. It is a place of sanctuary, like many other places of prayer.

To have a leader of the community at a place of prayer and sanctuary be murdered in that way was shocking and painful. What has made that pain even worse now is the allegation that this was tied to the Indian government or the Indian state. This has only reopened those wounds and made them even more painful.

That is why it is offensive that instead of showing solidarity, we have a party in this chamber, the Conservatives, not standing in solidarity in a moment where there should be unity, where we should be sending a clear message that this is wrong, we all denounce it and we all stand together in the pursuit of justice in ensuring all the weight of Canadian jurisprudence and legal system is used to hold those accountable.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, I want to thank my leader, the leader of the NDP, for pointing out the work that needs to be done. I deeply appreciate the letter that has been sent to the commissioner to ensure the inquiry includes India.

The Conservatives have been silent in this debate tonight. It is such a false pretense when they advance the notion that they believe in freedom and democracy everywhere, when they say they stand for human rights everywhere. A Canadian has been targeted and whose life has been lost, and we need more than ever for every member of this House to stand together united with one voice to send a clear message to the Indian government or any actors who threaten our sovereignty and the lives of Canadians in this way that we will not tolerate it. We need to be true to that calling of standing for freedom for everyone everywhere.

When the Conservatives are absent in this, what message does the member think they are sending to the immigrant community, particularly to the Indo-Canadian community, who are now fearful of the situation and who fear their activism in the community and their fight for justice will be threatened?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, my colleague said it so well and so clearly. This is a moment to defend freedom, freedom of expression, freedom to exist in safety and security, and that has been threatened. When any one of us is threatened in this way, we should be able to put partisanship aside and say this is a matter of our national unity, this is a matter of sovereignty, this is a matter of a Canadian on Canadian soil being killed by a foreign government. That is a direct attack on our sovereignty that requires a unified response to denounce it, to demand justice and to demand a full inquiry and an investigation into anyone implicated in this matter, and that is what New Democrats are going to do. That is what we are going to continue to push for, with the concrete steps we laid out. That is what all of us should be doing. It is very disappointing to see the deafening silence of the Conservatives on this matter.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Chair, I send my condolences to the family of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

This is a tragedy and must spur serious action from the government on these allegations of foreign interference wherever they arise. It is the duty of the federal government to pursue the facts and justice for Mr. Nijjar and future protection of every Canadian at risk of foreign surveillance, harassment and intimidation.

We must come together across party lines to protect Canadians. As Conservatives choose to be silent tonight in this important debate, it sends a message to all Canadians living in fear of foreign governments in countries they fled that the Conservatives will not stand up to protect them in difficult times.

Many Canadians need our protection. I am thinking about the Iranian community. I joined them this weekend in Vancouver as they commemorated the one-year anniversary of the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini. This weekend, communities across this country came together to stand for human rights, dignity and democracy. They stood together against violations of human rights.

My constituents from Port Moody—Coquitlam, Anmore and Belcarra want action on violations of human rights in countries across the world, and they want the same thing here in Canada. Here in Canada, they want accountability. They want to make sure that they are safe and that every Canadian is safe. They have shared concerns with me. I know they have shared concerns with many members of Parliament in this community where they do not feel safe. They need a space where they can share their experience, where they can share their feelings and where they feel that they are being heard.

Protection of Canadians' safety and upholding human rights and justice are a fundamental foundation of a stable and thriving democracy, and we must, especially the 338 of us here, stand for that every day. To do this, the government must do more to ensure that there is RCMP protection for people who may be at risk.

The NDP is asking for diplomatic sanctions, a review of all the Indian diplomats in Canada and the inclusion of India in the foreign interference inquiry.

I will close with the thought that it is time for this government to take foreign interference seriously and it is also time for the official opposition, the Conservatives in this country, to come together and unite for Canadians in Canada.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Chair, I understand that this is the last speech, and so perhaps I will ask the member her opinion of what has gone on tonight.

Never in the eight years that I have spent in this House have I seen the Conservatives so utterly silent on an issue. They have not given a single speech other than the five minutes right at the very beginning. They have not asked a single question. It is absolutely clear to me that there is an orchestrated attempt within the Conservative caucus and somebody has said that nobody is speaking on this. They have silenced the members, which is the only thing I can interpret from this, but I do not know why. I cannot understand why. It would be so easy for all of us to come together and be in solidarity on this. I wonder if the member, as the last speaker tonight, can provide her thoughts on why that might be.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Chair, every time I stand in the House, I stand for the constituents of my riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam, Anmore and Belcarra, and I expect that the Conservative do the same for their ridings. They come out to rallies, they talk about human rights and they like to filibuster committees. At the end of the day, they have a responsibility to stand in the House for the constituents in their ridings. I would say, as I stand in the House today: Do not elect a Conservative. If people want to be safe from foreign interference in this country, the Conservatives will not stand up for them.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Madam Chair, I thank the hon. member for Port Moody—Coquitlam for her speech.

The member talked about democracy. Mr. Nijjar was the president of the Sikh gurdwara in Surrey, democratically elected.

I saw Conservative members stand in solidarity at the Regina Nagar Kirtan parade. I believe the Conservative House leader was with me that day. I saw the member from Sherwood Park giggling and laughing across from him, tweeting away, but not about solidarity with this tragic loss. I would ask the member how that makes her feel when she sees members from the Conservative Party pander when they want support and votes, but in a moment like this, when Canadians are hurt and want solidarity with all politicians, we hear silence.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Chair, as the member was asking me that question, I was thinking of all the mothers, grandmothers and all the women who have come to my office to talk about how their voices have been silenced across the globe. We know of the human rights infractions around women. This week is Gender Equality Week, I will mention. I think about the importance of standing up for human rights and of actually protecting our communities.

As a woman, I hear these stories and feel an obligation to protect our communities, and democracy is the way to do it. We do it with our votes and we do it with our pens. That is how we do it.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for showing up at the one-year anniversary rally for the Iranian community.

As we know, as parliamentarians, we use our words in this House to express our points of view, to bring forward the thoughts and visions of our communities and to advance the perspective of our communities in this Parliament. It is often said that words alone are not enough, and we support our words by our actions. Part of that, particularly in this take-note debate, is to show up in the House and participate in the debate. However, we have not seen the Conservatives engage in that way.

The leader of the official opposition spent $3 million on a makeover, wanting Canadians to believe that he is somebody else. However, actions speak louder than words, and at this moment in time, the lack of participation by the Conservatives in this critical debate shows the true colour of who the Conservatives really are. Would the member not say this?

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Chair, I want to thank the member for Vancouver East for always standing up for constituents and Canadians.

We know that in times of trouble, in times of necessity, we must come together. As the member said, it has been shown today that there is no solidarity from the Conservative Party here. I am not sure what the party's objectives are, but it certainly is not to stand up for the protection, safety, justice and democracy of Canada.

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

It being 10:34 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 53.1, the committee will rise.

(Government Business No. 28 reported)

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 10:35 p.m.)