Mr. Speaker, this Friday, my wife and I were honoured to join the vibrant and growing Sikh community in Windsor—Tecumseh to celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas. We prayed together, lit clay lamps, rolled roti in the kitchen and shared langar.
The news from the RCMP that foreign agents of the Government of India participated in serious crimes on Canadian soil against Sikh Canadians has shaken my community, just as it has shaken all Canadians from coast to coast to coast. To think for even one second that a member of my community could be targeted or killed for their religious or political beliefs by an agent working on behalf of a foreign government is abhorrent. An attack on one Canadian is an attack on all Canadians and our shared values of democracy and freedom.
It is past time for the leader of the Conservative Party to join all opposition leaders in getting his security clearance. It is past time to put the nation ahead of himself. There is nothing more important than protecting Canadians.