Sunday, May 17, 2026
ADVT 
National

Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Apr, 2024 04:08 PM
  • Sikh rally in Toronto with multi-party support prompts India diplomatic rebuke

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at the Khalsa Day rally in Toronto on Sunday.

The rally commemorates the Sikh faith, and some participants chanted and carried banners emblazoned with slogans calling for a state separate from India, known as Khalistan.

India formally summoned Canada's deputy high commissioner Monday, and the country's foreign ministry decried what it called "disturbing actions being allowed to continue unchecked at the event."

India's foreign ministry didn't specify what it took issue with, but noted there were displays of separatism and alleged this illustrates Canada tolerating "extremism and violence."

New Delhi and Ottawa have been at odds over the issue for decades, and the relationship has been significantly strained since Trudeau accused India of playing a role in the slaying of a Canadian Sikh leader last year. 

Canada insists it will not infringe on free speech, including when Sikh people call for the existence of Khalistan. 

But India says these comments violate its constitution.

India has pointed out instances of people in Canada openly glorifying those linked to the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane, whose passengers were largely Canadian citizens. 

Human-rights groups says the country's Hindu nationalist government has increasingly persecuted minorities in recent years.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's office did not immediately comment on India's rebuke Monday. 

Joly has repeatedly said she wants to navigate the diplomatic rift with India in private. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Over 1600 weekend incidents: VPD

Over 1600 weekend incidents: VPD
Vancouver police say officers responded to more than one-thousand-600 incidents over the weekend, fuelled in part by multiple demonstrations across the city. Sergeant Steve Addison says recent geopolitical events have driven the protests, and police will continue to deploy extra officers to manage the situations as they arise.  

Over 1600 weekend incidents: VPD

Pedestrian death in Kelowna

Pedestrian death in Kelowna
Mounties are investigating the death of a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle in Kelowna's Rutland neighbourhood over the weekend. Police say they believe the death on Saturday afternoon is related to an earlier event where officers responded to a complaint of a group of teens using bear spray on people. 

Pedestrian death in Kelowna

B.C. Premier Eby says Surrey must talk with province about police transition costs

B.C. Premier Eby says Surrey must talk with province about police transition costs
B.C. Premier David Eby says it's time for the City of Surrey and the province to talk about the extra money the city says it needs to replace the RCMP with a local police force.  Eby says the provincial government's $150-million contribution to cover transition costs remains on the table, but there will be no more.   

B.C. Premier Eby says Surrey must talk with province about police transition costs

Body found in Langley explosion

Body found in Langley explosion
A body has been found by firefighters at the scene of an explosion in Langley and the province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is now investigating. Mounties and firefighters responded to an explosion at a house in rural Langley on Sunday afternoon.

Body found in Langley explosion

Five youth, one adult taken to hospitals after school bus rolls over north of Calgary

Five youth, one adult taken to hospitals after school bus rolls over north of Calgary
Six people have been transported to hospital after a collision involving a school bus in central Alberta. An RCMP officer from Didsbury, about 82 kilometres north of Calgary, came across the school bus rollover on Highway 2A at Township Road 320, police said Monday. 

Five youth, one adult taken to hospitals after school bus rolls over north of Calgary

B.C. to remove barriers for internationally trained professionals: premier

B.C. to remove barriers for internationally trained professionals: premier
The British Columbia government has introduced legislation that is expected to add skilled workers into the labour force more quickly by reducing barriers for internationally trained professionals. Premier David Eby says B.C. cannot leave people with skills and experience on the sidelines, given labour shortages the province is facing now and in the coming years.

B.C. to remove barriers for internationally trained professionals: premier