Mr. Speaker, I stand in this House as the member of Parliament for Brampton North, a riding in this country that has one of the largest South Asian populations, the largest part being the Sikh community. These constituents are proud Canadians, and they cherish Canada for its constitutionally provided rights, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our independent policing bodies and some of the highest standards for human rights in the world.
From a very young age, I have been an outspoken advocate, campaigning and advocating for many local issues, but one issue that shook me to my core at a very young age was an international issue. In 1995, I met a man by the name of Jaswant Singh Khalra on a trip to Canada. He was a human rights activist who had garnered global attention for his research concerning 25,000 illegal killings and cremations involving Indian policing agencies. His advocacy work led to his abduction and murder shortly after his return from Canada, which later led to the Central Bureau of Investigation in India prosecuting and sentencing nine police officers.
It was during the time of his abduction that it really hit me as to what we have in Canada. As a Canadian, I have always felt free to speak my mind without fear of persecution, although that is not the case in many places around the world, as we know.
However, as of late, that sense of security is no longer there, and I have heard those sentiments from the community as well. I have realized that the current Indian government and its diplomats will not let borders get in the way. It was the realization I came to last year when the PM stood in this House and spoke about the credible links connecting the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar to the Government of India and then again, on October 14, just last week, when the RCMP addressed Canadians directly because of the significant threat to public safety in our country.
The RCMP commissioner called this an extraordinary situation, which compelled the RCMP to speak about what they discovered in their multiple ongoing investigations into the involvement of agents of the Government of India in serious criminal activity in Canada. It is not their normal process to publicly disclose information about ongoing investigations, in an effort to preserve the integrity of investigations. However, they felt in this instance it was necessary to do so at this time in order to dismantle and disrupt the network that had been unleashed on Canadians by hiring criminal gangsters, with a trail leading to Indian diplomats ordered at the high levels of the Indian government.
Over the last year, the RCMP created a multidisciplinary team to investigate and coordinate efforts to combat this threat. The team has learned 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 of Canadians and individuals living in Canada.
This is outrageous. It is shocking. I have heard first-hand from constituents about these threats. Although there was suspicion at the time, that suspicion has been brought to light by the RCMP.
An example that the RCMP gave that day was that 22 arrests had been made by different policing agencies across the country that were linked to an extortion that linked back to the Indian diplomats, and eight arrests were made that were linked to murder on Canadian soil.
When we scan the newspapers of the last year, we will also find other investigations, such as ones happening in Edmonton, that refer to 27 events, including five extortions, 15 arson offences and seven firearms offences, all linked to a scheme orchestrated in India and executed by people here in Canada. Despite law enforcement action, the harm has continued, posing a serious threat to our public safety. The RCMP reached a point where officers felt it was imperative to confront the Government of India and inform the public about some very serious findings that they have uncovered through all of these investigations.
Although attempts have been made to co-operate and work with the Government of India to ask the diplomats who served here in Canada to co-operate with the Canadian agencies in their investigations, we have not been met with any co-operation from the other side. It is very unfortunate that these attempts have been unsuccessful, which resulted in the Government of Canada's having to consider six diplomats from India as persona non grata.
Through the national task force and other investigative efforts, the RCMP has obtained evidence that demonstrates four serious issues. It is really important that I point out these four issues: one, violent extremists impacting both countries; two, links tying agents of the Government of India to homicides and violent abilities; three, the use of organized crime creating the perception of unsafe environments, targeting the South Asian community in Canada and, in particular, the Sikh community; and, four, interference in democratic processes. I have heard from many of my constituents who have been targeted in these different cases, and they too are shocked and maybe even more worried that the links are not just to local gangs and organizations, but that they go back to foreign governments.
As Canadians, I hope we can all agree that this is the most egregious type of foreign interference Canada has ever seen in its history. This deserves the serious attention of all parties in the House and it starts with the leaders of all parties. It is shameful that the Conservative leader is the only one burying his head in the sand and refusing to get a security clearance so that he can better understand the issue and how his party and leadership race have been compromised by foreign interference. I believe it is on all of us to do the work that is necessary to protect Canadians. This is one of the most serious things I have ever heard of, and I believe that all members in the House could agree on that.