Good morning. Wendy Cox in Vancouver this morning.
Welcome to the first edition of the B.C.-specific newsletter.
The Globe and Mail continues its coverage today of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the troubling questions it raises on many fronts.
After the results of The Globe’s six-month investigation were published this weekend, Ottawa-area Liberal MP Chandra Arya took to X (formerly Twitter) to outline some of our key findings: that Mr. Nijjar was steeped in Sikh extremism; that he organized weapons training in B.C.; that he was linked to a militant group called the Khalistan Tiger Force; that he was on Canada’s no-fly list; and that his bank considered him a threat to national security.
Mr. Arya said in an interview Monday with Greg Mercer that he objected to the decision last week for Parliament to hold a moment of silence to mark the killing of Mr. Nijjar, who was gunned down a year ago in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak temple where he was a leader. Last September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that Canada had credible allegations that India was involved in the killing.
Mr. Arya said that, when Parliament decides to hold a moment of silence, it is “very exclusive and limited” only to those “few great Canadians who have immensely served Canadians for most of their life.”
“Mr. Nijjar is not one of these people. … That the ‘credible allegations’ that he was killed by a foreign government was considered to be good enough to elevate him to be one of the most respected Canadians is wrong,” he added.
It’s rare for a Liberal MP to criticize his own government. Mr Arya has in the past advocated for Canada strengthening ties with the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been an outspoken critic of Sikhs who want to see a separate country called Khalistan carved from India.
Also over the weekend, supporters of Khalistan and Mr. Nijjar showed up at memorials to mark the 39th anniversary of the bombing of Air India, which killed 329 people. Two Canadian inquiries have determined the bombings were co-ordinated by Sikh extremists in this country.
The 18-month-long Air India inquiry, led by former Supreme Court justice John Major, pointed to B.C. resident Talwinder Singh Parmar as the bombing’s architect, as did a separate inquiry, carried out by former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae. Mr. Parmar fled B.C. after he was picked up for questioning in the bombing. He was killed by Indian police in 1992.
On Sunday, demonstrators, backed by the group Sikhs for Justice, were pushing a conspiracy theory that India had something to do with the bombing.
Families of Air India victims were further appalled at the presence of a massive billboard erected at Surrey’s main Sikh temple depicting Mr. Parmar as a martyr.
Deepak Khandelwal, who was 17 when his two older sisters were killed on the flight, said this is akin to a billboard of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden going up on a Manhattan street.
He said the Trudeau government’s embrace of Mr. Nijjar after his murder is “emboldening” this type of behaviour.
“As painful as it is, I’m speaking out because I don’t want any other family to have to go through this. We cannot allow these elements to grow stronger.”
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was asked about the protests at the Air India memorials. Ms. Freeland responded by saying her government is clear in its support of the rights of Canadians in Canada.
“You’re not allowed, in Canada, to kill Canadians,” she said.
The Globe investigation found many reasons why India may have been inflamed at the company that Mr. Nijjar kept. However, the investigation also found India has failed to provide compelling evidence to support some of its claims.
The question of whether India went the extra step to back an extrajudicial killing on Canadian soil will remain opaque at least until the trials of the four men accused in Mr. Nijjar’s killing get underway. Although a court date is a long way off, their next court appearance is slated for Tuesday.
This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.