Trudeau not refuting conspiracy theory
Claim that India helped sabotage trip
THEY’VE DOUBLED DOWN USING A SENIOR CIVIL SERVANT AND NOW THE PRIME MINISTER TO SPREAD A CONSPIRACY THEORY.
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not refuting a theory that factions within the Indian government set him up for embarrassment by allowing a convicted attempted murderer into the country.
The theory appears to stem from the Indian government’s recent approval of a travel visa for Jaspal Atwal, a British Columbia man with ties to a Sikh separatist group that is banned in Canada and India as a terrorist organization. Atwal served jail time for the attempted murder of Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island in 1986.
During question period Tuesday, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer asked whether Trudeau agrees with or disavows the “allegations” made by a senior government security source to the National Post and other media outlets.
“When one of our top diplomats and security officials says something to Canadians it’s because they know it to be true,” Trudeau said, adding that it was the previous Conservative government that “torqued the public service every possible way they could.”
The opposition reasoned that Trudeau must, then, believe that the Indian government helped sabotage his trip. Trudeau did not stand up to contradict this interpretation.
Atwal was photographed with Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and with Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi at a Mumbai event last week, before the prime minister’s office said an invitation to a subsequent dinner was flagged and rescinded. Liberal B.C. MP Randeep Sarai has “taken full responsibility” for putting Atwal’s name on a list of prospective invites provided to the High Commission, Trudeau said Tuesday.
The National Post first reported allegations by a senior government security source on Thursday. The source said it is “not an accident” that the Indian government removed Atwal from a blacklist of people blocked from obtaining visas to travel to the country — and that it would be convenient for some in India’s government, specifically its intelligence service, to embarrass Trudeau on the topic of Sikh separatism.
In response to the opposition’s assertion that Trudeau has essentially confirmed that version of events, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government treasures the work of its security services and “the accusations and insinuations coming from the opposition are simply and utterly false.” Still, he didn’t refute, with any specificity, the allegation that India was involved in the blunder.
“Before our prime minister destroys our relationship with our ally, the government and country of India, will he please tell this House what proof he has of that allegation?” asked Tory MP Candice Bergen.
Pressed further by the opposition, Goodale said that national security matters cannot be discussed on the floor of the House of Commons, “otherwise the interests of this country can be compromised.” He added that public servants in Canada’s policing and security agencies performed “exactly as they should.”
Both Conservatives and New Democrats hammered away.
“They’ve doubled down using a senior civil servant and now the prime minister to spread a conspiracy theory that somehow the Indian government is trying to make the Liberals look bad,” NDP MP Charlie Angus said.
“What is the prime minister thinking, putting the interests of the Liberal machine ahead of national security, international relations and Canada’s reputation?”
Trudeau responded saying that Canada’s national security agencies and police services are trusted by the government. “They continue to do an excellent job,” he said.
The exchange came as rumours swirled in Indian media, too, about whether or not the Canadian prime minister was sabotaged in some way.
The Times of India reported that an official from a Sikh party, Shiromani Akali Dal, is accusing Indian intelligence agencies of conspiring to embarrass Trudeau and demonize Sikhs.