Opposition Conservative Celebration chief Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for divisions as the 2 traded barbs within the decrease Home of Canadian Parliament over the violence at a Hindu temple within the Toronto suburb of Brampton.
Poilievre mentioned hate crimes elevated 251% beneath Trudeau’s management. “We see sectarian riots on the streets of Brampton. This by no means occurred earlier than this Prime Minister. Does he take possession for the divisions he has triggered and the violence that has resulted?” he requested, referring to the violence triggered on Sunday.
Movies confirmed folks hitting one another with flagpoles and throwing punches outdoors the temple as police mentioned demonstrations had been held at separate locations. Professional-Khalistan activists protested the presence of Indian diplomats on the temple weeks after India and Canada eliminated six diplomats every. India-Canada relations have been at an all-time low over accusations of the Indian authorities’s hyperlinks to the concentrating on of pro-Khalistan activists within the North American nation.
Poilievre’s retort within the Home of Commons on Tuesday got here after Trudeau mentioned the people inciting violence, division, and hatred on no account characterize both the Sikh or the Hindu group in Canada.
Trudeau hit again and identified that Poilievre accessed paperwork associated to international interference threats to Canada with out a safety clearance. Poilievre has refused to get the clearance arguing that might stop him from questioning the federal government on these issues as he will likely be sure to secrecy.
Trudeau earlier mentioned he condemned “unequivocally the violence now we have seen in South Asian communities throughout the nation over the previous few nights.” He didn’t point out pro-Khalistan radicals, who allegedly barged into the Hindu temple and assaulted congregants because it hosted a consular camp of Toronto’s Indian Consulate.
Indignant protests at a gurdwara in Malton adopted. Comparable demonstrations had been held on the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in British Columbia’s Surrey.
On Monday, New Democratic Celebration chief Jagmeet Singh and Liberal Celebration lawmaker Chandra Arya additionally traded allegations over the violence. Singh accused Arya of “parroting the strains of a international authorities that engaged in allegations of significant violence and terror in opposition to Canadians.” He was referring to Arya’s submit on X on Sunday after the violence on the Brampton temple. Arya wrote Khalistani extremists had been getting “a free cross in Canada” beneath the liberty of expression.
Arya in one other submit mentioned Singh “refuses to acknowledge the presence of violent Khalistani extremism in Canada, regardless of the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police]’s clear assertion throughout their Thanksgiving Day press convention that the nationwide process drive is actively investigating Khalistani violent extremism, amongst different threats.”
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme and assistant commissioner Brigitte Gauvin in October acknowledged that Khalistani extremism continued to fester in Canada. They alleged that Indian diplomats and officers had been linked to violent felony exercise in Canada. This prompted India to withdraw six officers.
Toronto Star quoted Inexperienced Celebration chief Elizabeth Could saying on Monday that pro-Khalistan extremism “stays a stain on all Canadians, that now we have permitted extremism to exist”. Could mentioned they strongly favour immigration to Canada, welcoming folks from all corners of the world however it is necessary that diaspora communities depart their home political grievances of their dwelling nation, and don’t deliver them to Canada.
Could’s feedback got here on the day hundreds of Indo-Canadians protested in opposition to the assault on the Hindu temple earlier than dispersing as police declared their meeting “illegal” and deployed armed personnel in riot gear to clear the protesters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier led India’s condemnation of the violence and demanded that the perpetrators have to be prosecuted. He referred to as the assault deliberate and mentioned it was a part of cowardly makes an attempt to intimidate Indian diplomats.
The administration of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir accused police of utilizing “extreme drive” in opposition to devotees staging a counter-protest in opposition to a pro-Khalistan group gathered throughout the road.
