Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Mike Duheme takes part in a press conference about India-linked criminal activity occurring in Canada, in Ottawa, Ontario, Oct. 14.Blair Gable/Reuters
There has been a “significant reduction” in threats posed to South Asian communities in Canada after the expulsion of Indian officials allegedly tied to violent crimes, including murder, on Canadian soil, the head of the RCMP says.
In an interview that aired on CTV’s Question Period on Sunday, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said Ottawa’s decision to expel six Indian diplomats and consular officials, including the high commissioner, has had “an impact on what we’re seeing in the South Asian communities.”
“From different techniques that we use in normal investigation and reach-out from the community, I can confirm that there’s been a significant reduction in the threats,” Commissioner Duheme said.
The RCMP went public on Oct. 14 with allegations that the Indian diplomats were linked to homicides, extortion and other violent criminal activities in Canada. Police allege the officials used their positions to collect information that was passed along to organized crime groups who targeted activists in the pro-Khalistan movement living in Canada. The Khalistan movement advocates for a separate Sikh state in the Indian state of Punjab.
The RCMP has avoided commenting on specific cases, but Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has said the six officials were “persons of interest” in the murder case of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen who was gunned down in Surrey, B.C. in June, 2023.
The Indian government has called the allegations “preposterous” and politically motivated, and expelled six Canadian diplomats in response.
Over the past year, the RCMP have warned at least 13 individuals with links to the Khalistan movement that they were in imminent danger, police officials said earlier this month. In the CTV interview, Commissioner Duheme said that these threats had been reduced, but likely not eliminated.
“I can’t say that the threat will be forever eliminated, because any organized crime group, or in the criminal space, they reorganize and find a different way of doing things,” he said.
The Commissioner added that he “would have a concern” if the expelled diplomats are replaced with other Indian officials, although he noted that this decision is up to Global Affairs Canada.
Balpreet Singh, legal counsel for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, said it’s hard for community members to judge whether there’s been a reduction in the risk of violence, as he and others are still regularly receiving threats. But he said it is positive that Canadian law enforcement and the federal government are taking action after playing down threats against Sikhs for a long time.
“To see things turn 180 where these threats have been acknowledged and things that even we weren’t aware of have been brought forward, it’s definitely a vindication,” Mr. Singh said in an interview.
“But do we feel safer? The answer there is no. These threats are still there and we know that India operates through proxies.”
The allegations from the RCMP, delivered in a highly unusual press conference over the Thanksgiving long weekend, have resulted in a major diplomatic row and further soured relations between Canada and India that were already strained by the killing of Mr. Nijjar.
Commissioner Duheme said the RCMP decided to go public after Canadian officials met with their Indian counterparts in Singapore on Oct. 12 to present Canada’s evidence against Indian officials.
He said the RCMP was trying to deal with “misinformation” after incorrect details about the meeting were reported by Indian media. More fundamentally, he said that Canadian officials had not reached “the key objectives” of their meeting.
“We said, it’s time to go out immediately, because there’s still a serious threat to the population,” Commissioner Duheme said.
He said that had never seen anything like this in his three decades in law enforcement.
“It’s actually a little surreal when you look at all this. But it’s not unique to us,” he said, noting that U.S. law enforcement has made similar allegations against Indian agents.