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.