Ottawa
Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada, on Friday has criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for allegedly using the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar as a distraction from other controversies facing his government. Bernier has called for the posthumous revocation of Nijjar’s citizenship, arguing that the Khalistani militant, central to the ongoing diplomatic dispute with India, should not have been granted Canadian citizenship in the first place.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recently identified India’s High Commissioner to Canada and five other diplomats as persons of interest in Nijjar’s June 2023 murder. They also revealed evidence of a growing campaign against Canadians by Indian government agents. Bernier has expressed concern over these allegations, stating that if true, they require serious investigation, but he believes Trudeau is leveraging this crisis to shift focus away from his administration’s shortcomings.
Bernier claims Nijjar was a ‘foreign terrorist’ who used fraudulent documents to seek asylum multiple times in Canada, emphasizing that he was granted citizenship in 2007 despite his controversial history. He suggested that Nijjar should have been deported after his initial asylum claim was rejected, reflecting broader concerns about the immigration policies that have allowed such individuals to remain in Canada.
Tensions between Canada and India escalated after Trudeau accused Indian agents of involvement in Nijjar’s death, which New Delhi labeled as ‘absurd.’ In retaliation for the diplomatic fallout, both nations have expelled several diplomats, straining relations further amid accusations of Canada’s leniency towards Khalistan supporters.
