India to seek extradition of alleged terrorists from Canada
India is expected to urge Canada to expedite the extradition of 26 alleged terrorists, who government officials in New Delhi have accused of using the country as their base, according to the Deccan Herald newspaper.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the G7 summit in Alberta from June 15 to 17, and is expected to address the matter in a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Indian media outlets added. Modi is also likely to emphasize the importance of cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the countries.
New Delhi officials are hopeful that Ottawa will expedite the pending extradition requests and arrest alleged gangsters and terrorists who have escaped to Canada from India, a source told the Deccan Herald. A statement from the Canadian Prime Minister's Office revealed that the two leaders have agreed to "maintain ongoing law enforcement discussions and address mutual security concerns."
Certain members of Canada's Sikh community have been demanding the establishment of Khalistan, an independent ethnoreligious nation carved out of the Indian state of Punjab and surrounding areas. This movement has been central to rising tensions between New Delhi and Ottawa, especially following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that India was involved in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a key figure in the movement.
India views Khalistan activists as a national threat and has banned their organizations. It has designated the leaders of the movement, including US-based Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of Sikhs for Justice, as terrorists. US prosecutors alleged last year that Indian officials were involved in a plot to assassinate Pannun, who is based in New York and holds both US and Canadian citizenship.
Tensions escalated in October 2024 when Canadian officials accused Indian diplomats of targeting Sikh activists in Canada, leading to mutual expulsions of diplomats. Trudeau at the time condemned India's actions as a "fundamental error," while New Delhi denied the allegations, claiming they were part of a broader strategy to undermine India for political gain.
Pro-Khalistan separatists have organized protests, chanted anti-India slogans, and targeted diplomatic missions and Hindu temples, with violent attacks in Canada, the US, UK and other countries which have significant Sikh populations.
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Montreal Gazette
an hour ago
- Montreal Gazette
Josh Freed: Celebrate Canada and Quebec by swatting bugs and jumping in a lake
Our two national holidays have come and gone, but like most Montrealers I hardly noticed them, which is usually a sign that all's well in Quebec. The two days are barometers of our political times, so here's my post-holiday review of Canada Day and St-Jean. Canada Day has never been an overly patriotic or nationalistic day, one of many advantages of being Canadian. Most Canadians traditionally celebrate by going to the country for the long weekend to smack bugs and jump in a lake. But this year Canada Day was on steroids in much of the country as people belted out the anthem, unfurled supersized U.S.-style Canadian flags and wore T-shirts saying 'Canada is not for sale' and 'Never 51!' Here in Montreal, the Canada Day parade was cancelled at the last minute, as usual. But a small informal 'march' happened in Old Montreal that attracted so many sympathetic American and European tourists, they probably outnumbered us locals, who don't always attend these things. Canada's new nationalism has also infected Quebec, where recent polls show most Quebecers are very proud to be Canadian, even more so than people in some other provinces. Many francophones are suddenly feeling sappy about maple syrup, Mounties and moose, while humming the national anthem in the shower. The secret glue that's cementing our country is U.S. President Donald Trump, who's made us all appreciate what he's threatened to take away. From coast-to-coast we're taking pride in boycotting U.S. goods and discussing where in the States we aren't going. 'So where are you NOT going this summer?' 'Oh, we're not going to Vermont or Old Orchard, like we usually do. We'll be staycationing in Snowdon instead. And where WON'T you be going?' Meanwhile, in Ottawa, our new PM, Mark Carney, gave a brief speech on July 1 about Canada being a kind, caring nation, and it rang true given that our southern neighbour has officially abandoned those virtues. Instead, the U.S. has embraced a new motto: 'Nice guys and countries finish last.' As much of the world turns crueller and more selfish, Canada is managing to look good, by just not changing much. Our PM was elected as a Liberal, but he's a former banker who's pushing his party to the centre, talking pipelines, business, and 'Build baby, build,' while still sounding liberal about social policy. So he's kind of a Liberal Conservative. Until a few decades ago, we had a party like that called the Progressive Conservatives, under leaders like Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. But then Western 'reformers' turned it into the more radical and shrill Conservative party that Pierre Poilievre now incarnates. Lately, with Trump threatening, many Canadians were ready to move to the political centre, so the Liberals did, stealing economic policies from the Tories but staying socially liberal. Thus we elected Carney, an old-fashioned Progressive Conservative. Our new Liberal PM is actually a Red Tory. 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Gilles Vigneault had just written 'Gens du Pays' for the occasion, which quickly became Quebec's unofficial national anthem, and also its Happy Birthday song, even for many anglos. The crowds sang it again and again along with 'le Québec aux Québécois' until dawn, when the police broke up the party. But as usual in Quebec, as an anglo I felt totally welcomed as part of the gang by nationalists delighted I was there to celebrate. The intensity of the nationalism was awesome and remained so for several years. Compare that with more recent St-Jean activities: genteel neighbourhood block parties attended by all ethnicities and outdoor concerts that are dwarfed by the jazz festival, which is practically Quebec's modern national holiday. Like Canada Day, June 24 has become more of a national day off. This St-Jean I didn't even see many fleur-de-lis flying on homes in my Plateau neighbourhood, which was once festooned with them. These days people are proud to be Quebecers, but proud to be Canadians, too. Quebecers aren't heading to Mount Royal in millions, but we are all thrumming proudly, pleased our province and our country feel like a refuge against a threatening world. Quebecers are still fighting for sovereignty, but like most Canadians, that's now sovereignty from the U.S. So let's thank Donald Trump for making our national holidays great again.
Global News
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CSIS issues espionage alert about suspect seeking sensitive information for Chinese intelligence
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Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada, America — compare and contrast
Opinion Three days and 90 years. That's the difference in age between Canada and America. But the differences between Canadians and Americans have never been on starker display than this, our joint birthday week. It is truly a tale of two countries, a revolutionary society versus an evolutionary community. The United States today is undergoing a second American revolution, one that will determine whether it remains a republican democracy or becomes a presidential autocracy. The signs are ominous. Canada, meanwhile, is engaged in a debate about economic progress and regional and civil accommodation. The signs are hopeful. The Canadian Press files The Peace Tower is pictured on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The Peace, Order and Good Government clause has shaped the character of Canada, David McLaughlin writes. Two bills tell the tale. 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Executive power has exploded at the expense of due legal process to deport migrants and immigrants, using the National Guard and masked, unidentifiable ICE agents to swoop and detain. Law firms have been forced to do free legal work for MAGA-type causes to protect their regular government work, a form of racketeering. Media companies have paid the president or his surrogates tens of millions of dollars to avoid government-sponsored lawsuits against them, threatening freedom of the press. Science and evidence have been shut down in favour of extremist, crank views on vaccines and climate change. Between 12 million and 15 million Americans are about to lose their health insurance, making people sicker and poorer. None of this is being mirrored in Canada, leftist Liberal and rightist Conservative complaints notwithstanding. Even when there is some alignment in policy goals — investing in national defence, more secure borders, less immigration — there is a legitimate Canadian difference. A difference not just in degree but in form. Not just what we choose to do but how we choose to do it. Peace, order, and good government. This sums up the Canadian difference. It sets out our governing culture in constitutional clothing. When Canada was formed in 1867, Parliament was given authority 'to make Laws for the Peace, Order, and good Government of Canada.' This 'POGG clause' was the constitutional device in vogue in the 19th century as the British Empire 'decolonized' itself. Across Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa, each of these countries incorporated the phrase into their self-governing constitutions. Uniquely here, though, this means of figuring out who does what jurisdictionally between the national and subnational governments, grew into a governance ethos for Canada. Our constitutional history has not been without contention over this phrase. Federal governments have justified controversial pan-Canadian interventionism with it such as carbon pricing. But these fights have occurred in the courts of law and public opinion with acceptably civil discourse. Blatant disobedience rarely rears itself. This is due to a political culture in Canada that has been historically shaped and influenced by expectations of, and satisfaction with, peace, order, and good government in our political life. Not the legality of the clause but its sentiment. Even as we've experienced a decades-long decline in deference for traditional public, religious, and social institutions, Canadians have opted for an evolutionary reordering of society in response. No national guard deployed here. Even the most revolutionary development in Canada since Confederation itself, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. This is to be celebrated. For it is during the difficult, fraught periods of political and societal tension that constitutional norms and behaviour become most important. In short, it is how you get through to the other side. Especially now as we contemplate how to forge a successful transition of 'sovereign nationalism' from today's unipolar economic vulnerability tied to the U.S. market to tomorrow's multi-polar economic wealth model of multiple markets, a transition that will challenge entrenched political and economic orthodoxies across the country through wrenching, uncomfortable change. Imagine if Trump's 'national sovereigntists' had access to this type of constitutional clause to assert unbridled executive power for their federal government. For what is occurring in America today is the greatest assertion of presidential authority at the expense of congress and the judiciary in that republic's history. This has been a year of resurgent Canadian patriotism. Waving the maple leaf flags, singing the national anthem, and posting 'elbows up' are all on the rise. In this, our birthday week, we should celebrate the true unsung hero of our Constitution — the Peace, Order, and Good Government clause. Over a century and a half, it has shaped the character of governing and the distinctiveness of Canada. It has made us — and keeps us — Canadian. David McLaughlin is a former clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary in the Manitoba government.
