As the House of Commons reconvened on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau informed Parliament that there were “credible allegations” of a “potential link” between “agents of the government of India” and the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and Sikh leader.
As a consequence, an Indian diplomat was expelled from Canada.
On Monday, leaders of all three major parties in Canada rose to address the matter in the House of Commons.
“Canada is a rule of law,” Trudeau told the House of Commons. “Our country, the protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told the House that if the allegations are proven true, they represent an “outrageous affront” to Canadian sovereignty. He called on the Indian government to cooperate with “utmost transparency”.
But the most emotional appeal came from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who is the first Sikh-Canadian to lead a major Canadian political party.
Singh, who is banned from travelling to India, spoke in Punjabi in the House.
“All I want to say in Punjabi is everything we heard today, we all knew as children that the Indian government commits many atrocities. But we never thought we’d have to face this danger after coming here, to Canada. I want to say to everyone, that I am here,” he said.
“With whatever strength I have, I will not budge till justice is served in this case. I will not budge till every link is investigated and justice is served.”
With files from Global’s Stewart Bell, Elizabeth McSheffrey, Christa Dao, Darrian Matassa-Fung