Debates of Oct. 21st, 2024

RCMP Allegations Concerning Foreign Interference from the Government of India

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I think that, by having this debate this evening, we will be able to take a closer look at this issue, come up with suggestions and perhaps some solutions, and reach a consensus. This debate enables us work across party lines and to try to sit down together as responsible parliamentarians.

Unfortunately, what may end up happening this evening is that the Liberals and the Conservatives will start accusing each other and blaming each other for foreign interference in Canada. These two parties have taken turns forming the government for years, for decades. They have been trading power back and forth since 1867.

Today, we are dealing with the results of these two parties' concerted inaction. Unfortunately, rather than looking for solutions, they may end up engaging in partisan quarrels, which I think are futile during such an important debate.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member across the way whether his leader has taken the necessary steps to obtain his security clearance.

Can the member tell me whether he thinks it is important for all the party leaders to obtain their security clearance in order to be well informed on issues of national security so they can present a united front in Canada and internationally?

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my leader has indeed started the process and I think that he will get his security clearance shortly. There are just a few small formalities left. He did indeed decide to move forward responsibly so that he could verify whether Bloc Québécois candidates or members have been directly or indirectly, wittingly or unwittingly involved in foreign interference. I would be surprised if that were the case, but my leader is proceeding responsibly. If ever Bloc Québécois candidates or members were involved, my leader will be able to decide whether those people can stay in the party or not. I hope to be a candidate in the next election. No, I am joking.

Yes, I think it is simply a matter of responsibility when a person decides to lead a party, especially when they want to lead the country.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, tonight we are talking about foreign interference. After listening to all of my colleagues' speeches and concerns, it occurred to me that the word “interference” rhymes with the words “negligence”, “indifference” and “complacence”.

Consider water as an analogy. When water seeps in, when it erodes a road or shoreline, it does not happen suddenly. It happens gradually. We are here, tonight, debating foreign interference because of the previous governments' negligence and, I would say, their indifference, with one consequence being the assassination of a Sikh Canadian on Canadian soil. India considered this person a terrorist, but the RCMP questioned him and did not see fit to extradite him. Nevertheless, international regard for Canada is so low that India, through its representatives, managed to send contract killers to murder a Sikh Canadian. This is no trivial matter.

Tonight we can also talk about the fact that, when it comes to interference, the Conservative leader is more interested in being free to promote his video clips than in discovering the truth. A respectable and careful attitude would involve going to the source to find out what the whole thing is about, especially since it also appears that people in certain parties were involved in foreign interference or may have been targeted by it.

I would like to clarify something so that people understand. A Conservative member said earlier that Conservatives deserve the credit for the fact that we have a foreign agent registry and that the government was unwilling to create a foreign agent registry.

The member for Trois-Rivières tried to make that happen. His name was chosen in the private members' draw and he drafted a bill to create such a registry. In the end, the government introduced a bill in that regard, Bill C-70, but not until four years later. The government reacted. I have to give it credit for that, but it did so four years later, or as we say in my riding, an hour later in the Maritimes, which shows that the government did not really take this seriously.

There is a conflict between India and Punjab. Punjab is a province of India that borders Pakistan and India, and the Sikh community in India would like to create a country, a state, called Khalistan. The Sikh separatists are claiming their corner of the world, based on their religion, and the Indian government has totally prevented the Sikhs from obtaining that recognition since the partition of India in 1947.

This conflict, which has been going on since that time, has been marked by acts of extreme violence perpetrated by both Indian governments and Sikh representatives. These include the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the bombing of an Air India flight.

The conflict finally reached Canada's shores in 2023, when Mr. Nijjar was assassinated. The absolute worst thing a country can do is fail to defend and protect the people who live there. That is the absolute worst thing, from a disrespected G7 country. People are coming here to commit their crimes.

Canada then decided to react by expelling diplomats. We supported that. The Indian government also retaliated. What is important to remember in this story, however, is that interference in a country does not happen overnight. Give them an inch, they will take a mile. The more the government loosens the reins, the more it will come to realize that it has zero control at any given time.

I identify first and foremost as a Quebecker, as everyone knows, but I find it embarrassing as a parliamentarian in this place that we have reached this point. What I also find embarrassing is how long it took the government to be transparent. It did not want a commission on foreign interference. It appointed a special rapporteur to buy some time. The rapporteur then said what we thought he would say, namely, that there was nothing there.

There is nothing there? Come on. Perhaps we were talking about foreign interference based on election results, but interference is much broader than that, and we wanted a commission to clear up the issue of foreign interference in all its forms once and for all.

When I say that “interference” rhymes with “indifference”, “complacence” and “negligence”, that is what I am talking about. I do not think many people would tell me I am wrong. Even on the government side, I would find it hard to believe that they did not realize they were asleep at the switch.

This issue was raised by my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean when he said that the government was dragging its feet. I do not understand. During his first four years in power, when his government had a majority, the Prime Minister seemed to be focusing only on matters of foreign policy and neglecting domestic matters.

Then he had to deal with a pandemic that revealed all the Conservative government's failures that he should have addressed, but did not. He did not care. The Prime Minister travelled around the world, but what for? Given the state of foreign interference, we have to wonder what it was all for. He took a trip to India and took some nice photos for the upcoming election, but he could not even thoroughly, properly and respectably address an issue like the one that ended in the murder of a Canadian national.

I am a little ashamed of that, not because I care that much about the Prime Minister and his indifference, but because if Quebec were a country, this type of thing would certainly never happen there.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats are quite aligned on this issue, which pertains to the safety and security of Canadians. One thing that is troubling for, I think, both the member and me is that over a year ago, when the New Democrats brought forward a motion to establish a public commission that would review all aspects of foreign interference, including foreign interference by India, the Prime Minister voted against it. Earlier today, in this place, we noticed the Liberals defeat the establishment of a special committee that would study Canada-India relations for the purpose of identifying measures that would combat foreign interference.

Does the member want to elaborate or speculate on why the Liberals are voting against these measures?

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, any time I see bad moves like that, I cannot help but wonder what they could mean and what interests are behind them. Are they political or commercial interests? We have seen how former ministers and elected officials have found themselves working for major Chinese companies shortly after leaving office.

I do not have an answer to that question, but it needs to be answered.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent speech.

He started off by saying, and rightly so, that the Liberal government clearly did not want a foreign agent registry, just as it did not want an inquiry. The special rapporteur was appointed instead, and in November 2020, the House of Commons adopted a motion. We have been going in circles for the past three or four years.

Now, on the other side of the House, the leader of the Conservative Party says he does not want to look into foreign influence and he does not want to get the clearance needed to look at the reports, because if he sees something worth criticizing, he will not be able to talk about it. The Conservatives may be mixed up in foreign interference. I think the Liberals might be as well.

Is there anyone in the House who is capable of being a reliable prime minister? Does my colleague agree that there is no way to study the issue of foreign interference in the current Parliament?

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to what the Prime Minister said under oath, one political party has some problems with foreign interference. There could be people in that party who are more likely to be faced with that. I am trying to choose my words carefully. These people could be influenced or could be dealing with foreign interference.

When a prime minister says something like that under oath, the Leader of the Opposition, who is responsible for a political party and who aspires to hold the highest rank in the House of Commons, must look into that and must get the necessary information. It is a matter of trust. He must be able to take stock of the situation. He cannot just using lying as an excuse to spread fear. Politicians have to be responsible.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is an opportunity to have some difficult conversations.

I would like to ask my colleague if he can help me reconcile the fact that in Canada, separatist movements from Quebec, such as the Bloc Québécois, are democratically represented in the House of Commons by elected officials, whereas in India or other countries, the state often accuses Sikh separatists of extremism and violence, rather than inviting them to take part in peaceful, democratic political discourse.

I know this is a difficult conversation, but I think it is important to have it here.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am indeed an independence activist, or, as my rivals would say, a separatist. India calls its Sikh citizens separatists. My belief in independence is based on democratic values. I have said before that I am a sovereigntist, because the democratic ideal is rooted in the sovereignty of the people.

In that sense, I do not think any comparison is possible between Quebec separatists and Sikh separatists. Our movement is not based on religion, and I can think of few violent episodes or years in the history of our movement.

In fact, the 1976 election of the Parti Québécois laid all such claims to rest.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

New Democrats fundamentally believe, as do many people in the House, that Canadians have the right to feel safe. They should feel safe in their homes. They should be safe when they go to work, at their places of work and when they come back home again. I know, though, that when guns and gangs are involved and bullets are flying, no one is safe. Even if it is a particular target, there is an impact on everyone in that community. This includes everyone who is walking around the block, kids who are playing in the streets and kids who are playing at a park nearby; everyone is at risk when there is violence.

The reality is that what we have learned from the RCMP is something that I do not think any of us have heard in our lifetime. The RCMP has credible evidence that a foreign government directed, engaged, hired and instructed gang members in Canada to commit acts of violence against Canadians. That is an outrageous scenario, but it is where we find ourselves. That foreign government is the Indian government. The Modi government hired gangs to target Canadians.

I remember receiving numerous calls from people across the country saying that they were being extorted, that they were worried about the rise in violence in their communities and that they were worried about gun violence. There was an increase in car robberies as well. The RCMP said, in a very shocking statement regarding the length and breadth of the crime that we saw in the past year, that there are significant ties to gang activities directed, allegedly, by Indian government agents, by Indian government diplomats. They were expelled.

From the beginning, when we started seeing more and more mounting evidence of foreign interference, New Democrats took it seriously; we said we needed a public inquiry. This is not something for partisan games. This is something to be looked at with the seriousness and the independence of an inquiry, so we can have clear recommendations that keep Canadians safe from interference. At every turn, the Liberals put up blockades. They said no. They said that a public inquiry was not necessary. We had to fight to get to the public inquiry.

What is even worse is the fact that, in the House of Commons, there is only one leader of a federal party who refuses to get security clearance. There is only one federal leader who refuses to find out what is actually going on. I believe that we need a united front; Canadians expect our leaders to come together and say that, if a foreign government is engaging in a campaign of terror on Canadians, we are all going to stand together and denounce that; we are all going to say it is wrong. The behaviour of the Conservative leader shows the Modi government that there is one leader in Canada willing to look the other way, who does not want to know the details about this foreign interference. He does not want to know what is going on or have additional information that could help keep Canada safer and could address the allegations of foreign interference that touch his own party.

Let us recap what the Conservative leader knows. He knows there are allegations about his own leadership contest and a previous leadership contest for the Conservative Party of Canada, saying that foreign governments were involved in some element of interference. Specifically, there are allegations about the Indian government. He knows that. It is in the public discourse. He also knows that members of his caucus and/or candidates are also potentially compromised. He knows that he could seek security clearance. He has been offered that opportunity, yet he refuses.

Refusing to get a security clearance means that the Conservative leader will allow the rot in his party to continue. He is clearly saying that he is not prioritizing Canada; instead, he is putting his partisan interests ahead of the country. He is saying that protecting his party is more important than protecting the country, and he is wrong in that.

In today's emergency debate, one thing is clear. We need to send a very clear message to the Indian government that parliamentarians stand united against this type of activity: criminal behaviour, putting Canadians' lives at risk and putting our security and safety at risk. All of us take this seriously, and that is why I urge the Conservative leader to get his security clearance, find out what is going on and take the necessary steps to protect his party and, most importantly, our country.

Turning back to the federal government, there are additional steps we are calling for. We said that we need a Canada-India relations committee to look at the ongoing elements of interference by the Indian government. It would keep this front and centre in our minds, so we can constantly make sure that every step possible is being taken to keep Canadians safe and that any material is reviewed as it comes forward. We have also demanded an emergency meeting of the public safety committee to review additional steps to keep Canadians safe.

We are calling on the government to work with our allies. We know that the United States is currently dealing with a similar series of circumstances involving the attempted assassination of an American citizen. The American government has laid charges. It has charged Indian agents, and it is looking for an additional investigation and inquiry into this. The United Kingdom has also taken steps and is involved in a similar scenario, in which the Indian government is alleged to have interfered with its citizens. Three G7 nations need to work together to send a clear message of denunciation of these heinous acts of violence being perpetrated by the Indian government.

In addition, we have called for another series of measures. There is a violent, extremist, right-wing organization known as the RSS. It is a militant group based out of India that promotes violence against minority communities; it is very divisive, and it has branches across the world, including here in Canada. It needs to be banned. We want the most severe of consequences for anyone found to be involved in this campaign of terror against Canadians, whether as orchestrators on the Indian government side or as individuals carrying out those acts of violence. Everyone needs to be brought to justice and have the full weight of the law imposed upon them. We also want severe and strict sanctions imposed on the diplomats involved. They were expelled, but severe diplomatic sanctions are needed to send a clear message of denunciation.

Finally, what we are hearing from many Canadians is that they are worried about whether there is an information-sharing arrangement between Canada and India. The Indian government has engaged criminal gangs to commit various sorts of violence against Canadians. In light of those allegations, we should be pausing information sharing with that country. We should not be giving intelligence regarding Canadian citizens to a country and a government alleged to have hired gangs to commit violence against Canadians for over a year, including by killing Canadians. This is a time to acknowledge the fear and the worry that Canadians have, as well as the real pain that Canadians are going through.

People have suffered from the impacts of that violence. Canadians have lost loved ones because of it. There are those living with the trauma of having experienced the violence, of being threatened, of being harassed and of having guns fired at their homes. Business owners have been traumatized by extortion. Given how serious this is, New Democrats have said very clearly that this is a moment in which we need to put Canada first and party second.

I ask everyone in the House to put the country first; to put the safety and security of Canadians first; and to put the safety and security of our democracy, our sovereignty and our nation first. I ask them to protect Canadians and do the right thing.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, the member of Parliament for Burnaby South is the leader of one of the major parties in the House. He has taken the oath; he has seen the NSICOP report, and I believe he has also seen evidence of what the Prime Minister stated in the House about the Indian government with regard to the Hardeep Nijjar murder.

After reviewing those reports and taking the oath, does the member see any reason the Conservative leader should not do so?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I see absolutely no reason the Conservative leader should not get his security and receive information concerning allegations that directly touch his party. Not only that, but I also want to point out that there is not a single Conservative member in the House right now. Given how serious this is, as we are talking about a matter of this severity—

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

I apologize, but I have to remind the hon. member we do not mention presences or absences in the House.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I did not mention presence, I just mentioned their absence, but I understand that I cannot mention the fact that no Conservative member is in the House. I should not mention that they are not present at all.

What I will mention, though, is that this is very serious. This is something we might have thought was maybe a spy film when we heard about it. That a foreign government hired gang members to attack and terrorize community members, to kill Canadians, is something someone would think is the intro for a film. However, this is real life. This is what is going on in Canada. This is the RCMP's evidence being brought before Canadians, so we need to take it seriously. All leaders need to realize that the priority now is keeping Canada safe. All Canadians are at risk when a foreign government is so cavalier that it engages in dangerous activities in that way. All Canadians must take this seriously.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the leader of the Democratic Party for his steadfast support of Canadians right across the country who may fear for their own safety. In my own community of Edmonton Griesbach, I get reports of community members whose houses are being shot at. They are scared to report this to police; they are paralyzed.

We truly need to see country before party, but what we are noticing is that the Liberals have been too slow to act. They voted against the establishment of an India-Canada committee. They voted against the NDP's foreign interference commission into India.

In addition, the Conservatives are compromised. Their leader will not even get a security clearance, and they refuse to act after learning that their leadership race was interfered in by the Government of India.

This is why New Democrats are important. This is why New Democrats need to see accountability. It is why I believe that New Democrats are the only party positioned to truly get to the bottom of this.

Will the member speak to how urgent this issue is and speak directly to those voices right across the country who are fearing for their loved ones and for themselves?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, the truth is exactly as the member described it: People are very afraid. I met with community members who talk about the impact this has had on their lives. I have talked to folks who just hear about this and are worried about what it means. People who have seen the impacts of guns and gangs in their lives know that, if more guns and gangs are encouraged, incited, promoted or supported, it means that everyone's life is at risk. It means there is more danger and less security. People feel a deep sense of unease.

We have a responsibility in the House; we need to make a commitment that we are going to do everything possible to keep people safe. As the member pointed out, there are serious critiques of both the Liberals and Conservatives. The Liberals have been very slow to act. In fact, they have resisted action time and time again. Far worse, the Conservatives do not even want to act. They do not want to know what is going on. Not only is the party compromised, but I think their leadership is compromised with the unwillingness to put the country first. It should disqualify the Conservative leader from seeking any higher office. If a person is unwilling to know what is going on, if there are serious and imminent threats impacting Canadians and they do not want to know, then that disqualifies them from being able to lead this country.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise for the very serious emergency debate that has seized the House of Commons, which was brought forward by the leader of the NDP, the member for Burnaby South. What we are talking about tonight is, of course, the very serious allegations that have come forward over the last week, presented by the RCMP.

Before I get into the crux of my speech tonight, I want to say that as the member of Parliament for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, I represent a fairly large South Asian population. I want to tell them directly that we are taking this issue seriously. I know there is a lot of fear in that community, and I know there are some very complicated relationships with the Indian government.

I also want to say that I bear no personal ill will toward the country of India or the Government of India, but the circumstances that have presented themselves to us demand that we as parliamentarians stand up and act. No self-respecting country would let these types of allegations slip by without a firm and serious response. That is precisely what we in the NDP are doing.

Let us go back to the bombshell RCMP announcement that came on Thanksgiving Monday, October 14, which presented evidence that agents of the Government of India were involved in “serious criminal activity in Canada”: homicides, extortions and other criminal acts of violence; the use of organized crime to create a perception of an unsafe environment targeting the South Asian community in Canada; and, of course, interference in the democratic process.

This is not new. This is something our country has been exposed to for over a year. It started in September 2023 when the Prime Minister stood in this chamber and used the power given to him as a member of cabinet to make an explosive statement about the Government of India's interference in our internal processes. Since then, the Hogue commission has released an interim report, and in that report, we see references to India's clandestine activities littered throughout. That was followed, of course, by the report of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, which detailed everything India has been doing, from election interference to the use of criminal activity to terrorize the South Asian population.

This is not just coming from hearsay. Both of these reports are based on credible and solid intelligence gathered by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. It is from the men and women out there in the field working on our country's behalf, and they are ringing the alarm bell of what India and other countries are currently doing in Canada.

I think the most worrying part of the NSICOP report is in paragraph 73. I am going to quote it because it was quite the revelation: “This paragraph was deleted to remove injurious or privileged information. The paragraph described India’s alleged interference in a Conservative Party of Canada leadership race.”

We know those tentacles are running deep. We know that members of Parliament for several months now have been operating under a cloud of suspicion because some members have been named as witting or semi-witting participants in foreign interference. They are taking direction and sometimes monetary resources from a foreign power to do that power's bidding and to influence the processes in this place. Canadians have a right to be concerned about that.

We came together in a rare moment at the end of June as the spring session was running out and passed Bill C-70. The Senate then passed it in short order and it found its way to the Governor General to receive royal assent. I was directly involved in that bill. I serve as the NDP's public safety critic and serve on the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. The bill gave our law enforcement and intelligence agencies the important legislative tools they need in order to do their jobs. In fact, I talked with many CSIS members, and they felt that with the previous law, they were operating under an analog law that was out of sorts with what is required in the digital world. It is not enough, though, because we find ourselves here today following October 14 and the RCMP's announcements.

I briefly want to go over what the NDP has been doing since then, because we are the party in this place demonstrating to Canadians a solid commitment to uncovering the truth on this issue.

We started off last week by spearheading a call for an emergency meeting of the public safety committee. I led the way in getting unanimous support for that, which is very rare. We had a meeting on Friday and were able to pass a motion to start a study on this. We are going to call upon the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Public Safety, national security experts and members of the RCMP to come before our committee to provide us with the answers that Canadians deserve.

That motion successfully passed, and I would like to thank members from all parties for passing it, as it was unanimous. I followed that motion up with another one, which basically called on the committee to report to the House the need for “all federal party leaders to apply for the appropriate security clearance level in the next 30 days in order to review classified information and take necessary actions to protect Canadians.” However, the Conservatives immediately started filibustering that motion, and I suspect they are going to continue tomorrow. They are the only party in this place whose leader has refused to get the necessary security clearance to protect Canadians, and that is absolutely shameful. I will get back to that near the end of my speech.

Today, our leader asked for unanimous consent to establish a special committee on Canada-India relations, and unfortunately the Liberal member for Winnipeg North rushed in to shout out no. At a time like this, when we need to focus our attention on the fraught relationship between our two countries, it is absolutely unbelievable that the Liberals would say no to the formation of a special committee to investigate this very serious issue.

That brings us to the emergency debate tonight, which was spearheaded by the leader of the NDP and has allowed members of Parliament to stand in this place and report back on the serious things that are happening in our communities. We will not waiver on this issue. We will continue to show the leadership necessary to get to the bottom of it. When the Liberals and the Conservatives are too busy throwing insults at each other, the country needs moral clarity. It needs to see leadership that stands up on behalf of all Canadians, and the NDP will continue to do that.

I have been listening to the Conservatives dodge, weave and provide the most flimsy excuses for their leader not getting security clearance. Let me note what some of the top national security experts in Canada have said. I am talking about former CSIS executives and former advisers to prime ministers, both Liberal and Conservative. They have described the Conservative leader's position as nonsense, as ridiculous and as nonsensical, as there is no reasonable justification.

We are at a point where the Leader of the Opposition's continued refusal to get security clearance is raising far more questions than necessary at this time. This is a time when need to present a united front. We need to show our foreign adversaries that in this place, we may have our partisan differences, but when they mess with our internal affairs, we stand united, we are unshakable and we are unbreakable. It is absolutely shameful that the Conservative leader, who aspires to be prime minister, continues to refuse to get his security clearance. He is putting the partisan interests of his party over the interests of the country. He needs to be held to account. It is time for him to step up to the plate and get the security clearance that is necessary so we can tackle this issue with the united front it deserves.

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

Madam Speaker, the hon. member is hearing the same thing I am hearing on the ground: Why is the leader of the Conservative Party, the leader of the official opposition, not getting his security clearance so he can know how agents of the Indian government were involved in criminal activities in Canada and the danger it is to our sovereignty? This is the question people are asking me. In fact, they are sending the clear message, as the member said, that we all have to be united on this front. They are sending the message that the Conservative leader stands with India instead of Canadian Citizens. I would like the hon. member's view on that.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is a good question. It is precisely the type of question this is raising. I certainly hope for this country's sake that the Conservatives change their direction.

The Conservatives keep talking about this being a gag order. It is not. The most important thing they are skipping over is that it would allow their leader to take action. Leaders of political parties get to assign members of their caucus to various committees and various parliamentary roles, but they also get to sign their nomination papers to run under the party banner in the next election. Even if the leader cannot speak publicly about it, he can take the actions necessary in his caucus to make sure that any potential compromised member is not running as a Conservative MP in the next election and is not sitting in the House of Commons.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for how he laid out his wonderful speech and for the work he is doing on the public safety committee to ensure that Canadians get the answers they need.

Earlier today, our leader, the member for Burnaby South, put forward an excellent motion asking for an additional committee to be set up for Canada-India relations. Unfortunately, we saw the Liberal government vote that down. I am so confused. The Liberals tonight seem to be speaking about how important this issue is, yet they voted that motion down. Could the member talk about what he thinks the reasoning is for that?

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, that is a great question. Just to repeat what my colleague said, it was the Liberal Party that said no to the formation of a special committee on Canada-India relations. Imagine that. At this time, following the RCMP revelations, the governing party, for whatever reason, has decided to say no to a special committee to look at this. We would be happy to look into it at the public safety committee, and we are, but the moment we find ourselves in demands further action.

I would say to Canadians that they should call their Liberal MPs and demand answers as to why they are on the wrong side of history on this particular question.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, has the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, who sits on the public safety committee, seen anything as egregious as the foreign interference by India, which has gone into murder, extortion, harassment and assault, in any of the other cases of foreign interference alleged against Canada, like from China, Russia and Iran? Has this been the most egregious case or have there been others? I would like him to answer that and perhaps enlighten this House on it.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, I do not want to say whose experiences are worse than others, but I can say that certainly during the testimony on Bill C-70, we did hear from Canada's Tibetan community. Witnesses certainly relayed the transnational repression that the community is feeling from the People's Republic of China and the fact that family members who are still in mainland China regularly receive threats. The family members here in Canada are told to stay in line and to not misbehave, because their family is vulnerable in China.

Whatever nationality is being affected by whatever country, we need to stand united and call out foreign interference, especially the criminal kind, for what it is. This is a moment that demands all members of Parliament to stand firm and united, and to say to our foreign adversaries that we see them, that they are on notice and that we will no longer put up with this.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Diversity]

Madam Speaker, before I begin, I want to let the House know that I will be sharing my time with the member for Willowdale.

Last week, the RCMP independently and publicly released extremely disturbing and serious conclusions about the involvement of the agents of the Indian government and serious criminal activity taking place in Canada, including coercion, extortion, interference in democratic processes, spying, arson and homicides. In fact there are links to Indian diplomats collecting information about Canadians and passing it along to organized crime groups that have directly targeted the members of the Sikh and South Asian communities.

Let us be very clear. These acts are a grave violation of Canadian sovereignty, and we will never tolerate any form of foreign interference in Canadian society. As Canadians know, since the allegations that the Government of India was directly involved in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian diplomats and law enforcement agencies made repeated attempts to work with the Government of India, but each time it failed to co-operate.

After almost a year of inaction, obstruction and delays from the Government of India, earlier this month our security agencies presented Indian officials with clear and conclusive evidence that six Indian officials were involved in serious criminal activity linked to extortion, spying, arson and homicides of Canadian citizens.

Still, despite these very serious allegations, the Indian government has refused to co-operate in the investigation. Therefore our government took the necessary steps to expel six Indian diplomats from Canada. In the interest of maintaining public safety and protecting Canadians, the RCMP independently made the decision to disclose this information to Canadians in an effort to disable and disrupt the violent criminal activities taking place in our communities.

Let us be clear. We will always stand up for a Canadian's right to feel safe and secure in their community. We will never tolerate attempts from any foreign government to intimidate or harass Canadians. Right now, as we speak, our police agencies and law enforcement agencies are working around the clock to disrupt and disable the transnational criminal activity by the Indian government and to ensure that everyone who is responsible for this grave violation of our sovereignty is held accountable.

The RCMP has been working alongside police agencies across the country, including in my own community of Brampton with the Peel Regional Police, in Toronto, in Surrey and in Edmonton, to leave no stone unturned in its investigation. I want to take a moment to thank the RCMP for its tremendous leadership, for the work of our men and women in uniform and for their collaboration at every step.

At the same time, our security agencies are also working with our allies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, which have come to support us in our investigation. They have joined us in urging the Indian government to co-operate in the investigation.

Canada is a country that is rooted in the rule of law. We will never back down when it comes to protecting the rights of Canadians. The right of an individual to express their opinion and the right to peacefully protest are fundamental aspects of our democracy, aspects that all democratic nations should be working to protect.

I know that the events of the past week have left many members of the South Asian community, particularly the Sikh Canadian community, including my own in Brampton West, feeling anxious, upset and even scared. I want to take an opportunity to speak directly to the members of the Sikh community. As a proud Sikh myself, I want all Sikh Canadians to know that we see them, we hear them and we stand with them. They can know that their federal Liberal government, under the leadership of our Prime Minister and of our colleagues who are here with me, is there every step of the way to ensure accountability for those responsible, to protect Canadians and to defend Canadian sovereignty.

I have also heard a lot of concerns from members of my community about the impact they think the issue is having on our relationship with India. Let us start by first acknowledging the fact that no one wanted to be in this situation. Canada and India have deep historical and cultural ties that I see every single day in my own community. Our families are connected and our cultures are connected, and we want this to be resolved. That is why we have been trying to work with the Indian government through our security agencies, through our diplomats and through our law enforcement agencies in order to find some way to resolve the issue, to protect Canadians and to ensure that there will be accountability and consequences.

However, unfortunately the Government of India did not choose to work with us. Simply put, we find ourselves in this situation because time and time again the Government of India refused to co-operate. Right now the safety and security of Canadians is our top priority. We will continue to do everything in our power to keep Canadians safe, and if anyone in the community has any information that could help an investigation, or if anyone is feeling unsafe, they should get in touch with their local law enforcement service.

During these uncertain times, we know it is not always easy to know what is true and what is false, particularly in online spaces. We know that this is especially difficult due to the misinformation and disinformation campaigns from India targeting the South Asian community, as has been presented by the Justice Hogue report on foreign interference, but we must be firm in recognizing and rejecting false rhetoric to stop it from entering our media and our community spaces. That is why it is so critical that we stay grounded in the facts and listen to our law enforcement and national security agencies as we seek the truth together.

Over the coming months, there will be full investigations and trials that will come before the courts. I want all Canadians to know that there will be justice and accountability for those people who are guilty, through our independent judicial system. However, right now as we navigate these challenging times and the feeling of anxiety, we know that our community is resilient, that our community is strong and that our community will get through this together.

Let me also take a moment to remind the Government of India that we will not tolerate any form of intimidation, harassment or harmful targeting of communities in Canada. This is a time for unity. Right now we as Canadians, regardless of political stripe, faith, race or religion, must unite and be steadfast in our values as Canadians: our values of freedom, of acceptance and of democracy, and above all our fundamental belief in the rule of law.

However, I have to say it is disappointing to see that in such a critical time for our country and for Canadians, the leader of the Conservative opposition has repeatedly refused to step up and protect Canadians by getting his security clearance. Canadians expect their leaders to be informed and to take action when it comes to things as important as national security and sovereignty, yet he is the only party leader in this place who has refused to get his security clearance in order to know the facts and to protect our country.

Let us be very clear that foreign interference costs lives. The safety and security of Canadians and our democracy are at stake here. This is not a political matter. It is a matter of national security, and it is absolutely shameful to see the leader of the Conservative opposition continue to put his own political interests above our national security and the safety and well-being of Canadians.

However, unlike the Conservatives, on this side of the House we are listening to our national security experts and are doing everything in our power to keep Canadians safe. We will continue to stand up for national security for the protection of Canadians and our democracy.