NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has received a classified intelligence briefing that points to India’s role in the killing of a prominent Sikh activist in B.C. last June. “It was very clear […] that there is credible information that the Indian government was involved,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think details should be made public for now because it could compromise the criminal investigation. [node:read-more:link]
Commenting on the diplomatic fallout from Prime Minister Trudeau’s explosive allegation that India was involved in the murder of a B.C. Sikh activist last June, Defence Minister Bill Blair said September 23 that a criminal investigation is more appropriate. “Move beyond credible intelligence to evidence […] of exactly what happened so that we and the Indian government can know the truth, have the facts and then work together to resolve it.” [node:read-more:link]
Cameron Ortis, the former director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre accused of providing secrets to unauthorized persons, plans a is planning a constitutional challenge. The Public Prosecution Service has confirmed that Ortis’ lawyers will argue that a Security of Information Act section on communication about special operations violates his Charter rights. [node:read-more:link]
Canada reportedly amassed domestic and foreign intelligence during a months-long investigation of the killing last June of a B.C. Sikh activist branded a “terrorist” by India. Prime Minister Trudeau’s suggestion that India was involved set off a diplomatic row but his National Security & Intelligence Adviser was in India in August and again this month ahead of the PM’s meeting with his Indian counterpart during which Trudeau shared his concerns. [node:read-more:link]
House of Commons approval in one day of a government bail reform bill to address widespread concerns about repeat violent offenders is being criticized by two civil liberties groups. The law requires prosecutors to prove why an accused should be detained but C-48, referred to the Senate September 18, would put the onus on some to prove why their release would be safe. [node:read-more:link]
Prime Minister Trudeau today publicly accused “agents of the Indian” government of killing a Sikh community leader in B.C. last June. He also said that intelligence reports prompted him to raise the issue “in no uncertain terms” with Indian PM Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in New Delhi. [node:read-more:link]
The RCMP last year suspended a contract for radio-frequency filtering technology supplied by a B.C. company owned by Chinese interests, but an internal audit, which recommending changes to the procurement process, has concluded there were no security concerns. [node:read-more:link]
Previously unreleased video introduced as evidence September 8 in the criminal trial in Ottawa of “Freedom Convoy” leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, shows that police were outnumbered as demonstrators settled in and tension grew as officers in riot gear tried to clear the area near Parliament Hill in February 2022. [node:read-more:link]
A Nova Scotia shipyard paid $520,000 by the federal government to store a “dead” Coast Guard ship also is being sued by the government for negligence because it was refitting the vessel when it was damaged in 2018. The ship fell over when vandals, who remain unidentified, cut support cables. [node:read-more:link]
The longest sentence handed down so far in connection with the January 2021 attack on the U.S. capitol has been given to Enrique Tarrio, erstwhile leader of the militant neo-fascist Proud Boys. Convicted in May on various charges, including seditious conspiracy, he was sentenced September 5 to 22 years in prison. [node:read-more:link]
The joint Ontario Court of Justice trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, two key organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” blockade of Ottawa in February 22, began in the national capital today. Charges include include mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, intimidation and obstructing police. [node:read-more:link]
Newly-released government files show that federal officials have feared that long-promised legislation which would declare First Nations policing an essential service was being delayed by Assembly of First Nations reservations. A key sticking point evidently has been whether FNs or the provinces should have legislative jurisdiction. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. FBI and its European partners infiltrated and shut down a major global malware network used for more than 15 years to commit a gamut of online crimes. Some 40 ransomware attacks in one 18-month period had netted the Qakbot controllers approximately US$58 million. [node:read-more:link]
The Canada Revenue Agency said September 1 that “120 individuals are no longer with the CRA” because they had “inappropriately” received federal support payments during the pandemic. Six hundred other are under investigation. [node:read-more:link]
In a cabinet shuffle today by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, which leaves it unchanged at 18 members, Paul Merriman, the former health minister, has been moved to the Corrections, Policing & Public Safety portfolio. He replaces Christine Tell who has been shuffled to Environment. [node:read-more:link]
