News Brief
Canada's Top Officials Admit They Leaked Information To US Media On Amit Shah's Alleged Role In Plot To Kill Khalistani Terrorists
Union Home Minister Amit Shah
Top officials in the Canadian government have admitted to leaking sensitive information to The Washington Post over the Indian government’s alleged involvement in hostile activities in Canada.
Canadian PM Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security and intelligence adviser Nathalie Drouin and the country's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison, leaked information allegedly implicating Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah in directing these actions from New Delhi.
During her testimony to the House of Commons' Public Safety Committee, Drouin clarified that she did not require PM Trudeau’s approval to leak the information.
She also clarified that no classified intelligence was shared with The Washington Post, which published the details as India recalled six Indian diplomats over Thanksgiving even as Canada claimed to have expelled them.
According to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, the leaked information allegedly not only pointed to Shah but also linked India to the killing of Sukhdool Singh Gill, shot in Winnipeg on 20 September 2023. The incident took place just two days after Trudeau's statement in the House of Commons, where he alleged India’s involvement in the June 2023 gangland killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia.
Though no formal charges have been filed in Gill’s case, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme stated on 14 October that evidence implicates India in several killings, although only Nijjar’s name was specified.
RCMP is the national police service of Canada.
She added that the strategy was seen by the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office.
“We provided non-classified information on our actions and the evidence linking the Indian government to illegal activities targeting Canadians, including life-threatening threats,” Drouin testified, adding that similar briefings were shared with Canadian opposition leaders.
Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho questioned why the information was given to The Washington Post before being shared with the Canadian public, expressing her concern: “Canadians wouldn’t know unless they were able to read The Washington Post. I find it unfair that details were released to them but not provided to Canadians,” she said.
When Dancho further asked on why Canadians first learned from the US publication of allegations against India’s Home Affairs Minister concerning hostile activities in Canada, Morrison explained that he confirmed Shah’s name when The Washington Post journalist mentioned it.
Commissioner Duheme said that he refrained from publicly disclosing the information to avoid hampering ongoing investigations. “It’s investigative material we typically keep internal,” he noted, adding that the intelligence shared with The Washington Post was not deemed classified under Canada’s national security standards.
