Thursday, May 21, 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

Liberals, Tories join calls for House Speaker to resign over Nazi veteran invite

Liberals, Tories join calls for House Speaker to resign over Nazi veteran invite
House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota is facing calls to step down from across the political spectrum after he invited a man who fought for the Nazis to attend a speech by Ukraine's president, in what senior Canadian politicians are calling an international embarrassment.  Government House leader Karina Gould said Tuesday morning that she believes members of Parliament have lost confidence in Rota and he should do the "honourable thing."

Liberals, Tories join calls for House Speaker to resign over Nazi veteran invite

Helicopter crashes in central B.C., multiple people on board: RCMP

Helicopter crashes in central B.C., multiple people on board: RCMP
A helicopter has crashed in a forested area east of Prince George, B.C., with multiple people on board, RCMP say.  Cpl. Jennifer Cooper with the Prince George RCMP said Tuesday emergency crews have gathered at the site where the chopper went down near Purden Ski Hill off Highway 16. 

Helicopter crashes in central B.C., multiple people on board: RCMP

Man charged in Abbotsford stabbing

Man charged in Abbotsford stabbing
Police in Abbotsford say a 33-year-old has been charged in a stabbing earlier this month now described as "intimate partner violence." Abbotsford police say Tu Cuong Tran is facing two counts of aggravated assault after two victims were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries on September 16th.

Man charged in Abbotsford stabbing

Some wind warnings, high streamflow advisory remain in place for B.C. coast

Some wind warnings, high streamflow advisory remain in place for B.C. coast
A handful of wind warnings and a high streamflow advisory remain in place for parts of Vancouver Island and British Columbia's central coast after the region's first major wind storm of the fall. Environment Canada has wind warnings for the central coast, northern Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, with winds up to 110 kilometres an hour expected to ease by early Tuesday.

Some wind warnings, high streamflow advisory remain in place for B.C. coast

Long-term care profiting

Long-term care profiting
A report from British Columbia's advocate for seniors says profits for contracted long-term care facilities are growing significantly faster than expenses such as as direct care costs and staff wages. Isobel Mackenzie says in her latest report that a review of 181 facilities contracted to provide long-term care shows profit in 2022 increased 113 per cent over five years.

Long-term care profiting

Friend, community members remember 'humble,' 'genuine' Mountie killed in shooting

Friend, community members remember 'humble,' 'genuine' Mountie killed in shooting
Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O'Brien was shot and killed while executing a warrant in Coquitlam, B.C., on Friday.  Nicholas Bellemare, 25, has been charged with first degree murder and attempted murder with a firearm in the shooting incident that killed O'Brien and injured two other officers.

Friend, community members remember 'humble,' 'genuine' Mountie killed in shooting