Liberal MP and Canadian Sikhs reject claim India no longer involved in foreign interference

A Liberal MP and Sikh organizations pushed back after senior government officials said India was no longer actively interfering in Canada; they pointed to past CSIS and RCMP findings and recent police warnings as reasons for concern.

A Liberal MP and several Sikh groups publicly challenged comments from unnamed senior government officials who said India was no longer actively interfering in Canada. The comments were made in a background briefing ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney's trip to India and prompted pushback from community leaders and one federal MP. Critics cited prior Canadian Security Intelligence Service reports, RCMP findings and recent police warnings as evidence that concerns persist. Officials have said Canada has mechanisms to detect and disrupt threats and that trips would not proceed if active interference were believed. What is reported: - Liberal B.C. MP Sukh Dhaliwal told CTV he strongly condemned the officials' remarks and said he had not been shown evidence supporting the claim. - Senior government officials told reporters that Mark Carney would not be travelling to India if the federal government believed India was actively interfering in Canada's democratic process, and another official said Canada has mechanisms to detect and disrupt threats. - Canada's largest Sikh organizations held a press conference in Surrey, B.C., where Moninder Singh of the Sikh Federation of Canada criticized the officials' assessment and pointed to a recent police warning about a credible threat to his family. - A CSIS report released last June named India as one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage in Canada, and CSIS Director Dan Rogers has identified national security threats from countries including India in public remarks. - A CSIS spokesperson said the agency monitors and prevents threats in a country-agnostic way and that it speaks publicly about threats when it is in Canada's interest and needed for national security. - The RCMP has previously accused some Indian diplomats and consular officials in Canada of clandestine activities linked to serious criminal activity, and a public inquiry report described India as the second most active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada. Summary: The exchange underscores a gap between the public comments of senior officials and the concerns voiced by a federal MP, Sikh community leaders, and national security reports. The article notes that the trip by Mark Carney is proceeding and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is set to join; Undetermined at this time.