Sikh protesters call for the permanent closure of the Consulate General of India in Vancouver on Oct. 18.Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser and the deputy minister of foreign affairs provided sensitive intelligence about India to The Washington Post days before the RCMP publicly alleged that Indian government agents have been linked to homicides, extortions and other violent criminal activities in Canada, two sources say.
The leak to the U.S. publication about the killing of a Winnipeg Sikh leader and the role of India’s Home Secretary in violent acts in Canada stands in contrast to Mr. Trudeau’s view of leaks of classified information on China’s interference activities. Last week, he told the public inquiry into foreign interference that “a criminal leaked classified information” about China’s meddling in 2023 to The Globe and Mail.
The inquiry has heard how China and India have been identified by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as leading perpetrators of foreign interference in this country.
Two sources say Nathalie Drouin, a former deputy minister at Justice and now Mr. Trudeau’s top national security and intelligence adviser, and David Morrison, deputy minister at Global Affairs, gave a briefing on India’s interference operations in Canada to The Washington Post in the week before Thanksgiving. The intelligence was not to be reported until RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme held a news conference on Thanksgiving Day. The Globe is not naming the two sources who were not authorized to discuss the matter.
The Post reported that same day, quoting Canadian officials, that Ottawa had linked India to the murder of Sukhdool Singh Gill, who was shot in Winnipeg on Sept. 20, 2023. That murder took place two days after Mr. Trudeau accused India of being behind the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. The newspaper also reported that Canadian officials had singled out Indian Home Secretary Amit Shah as one of the high-level officials who authorized attacks on Sikh separatists and intelligence-collection activities in Canada. So far no charges have been laid in the Gill case.
At the Oct. 14 news conference, Commissioner Duheme and Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin said they have clear evidence tying Indian officials to the violent crimes but released no details, citing the need to protect open investigations and court proceedings. They also declined to say when the alleged crimes took place, how many investigations remain open, or how many Indian government agents are implicated.
Commissioner Duheme never acknowledged that Mr. Gill’s killing in Winnipeg was connected to India nor did the RCMP reveal other sensitive information reported by The Post. The newspaper quoted Canadian officials as having laid out how Indian diplomats collect intelligence on Canadian Sikhs and how its foreign spy service enlists criminal gangs to carry out violent attacks.
In testimony at the public inquiry, Mr. Trudeau said national security leaks on Chinese interference activities to The Globe in 2023 were “criminal leaks of classified information [that] can be damaging to reputations, to people’s confidence in our institutions and in our intelligence agencies.”
A spokesperson for Ms. Drouin and Mr. Morris denied any classified information was shared.
“None of the information in the public domain that has been reported on is the result of classified intelligence,” Privy Council media official Daniel Savoie said in a statement. “In regard to questions about additional serious violence, we would refer you to the unsealed U.S. indictment from November 2023 which identified plans to carry out three killings within Canada.”
The U.S. indictment identified the killing of Mr. Nijjar, but never mentioned the names of two other Canadians targeted for assassination, including Mr. Gill from Winnipeg.
Dan Stanton, a former senior executive at CSIS, said the information about Mr. Gill’s killing would have been considered classified as would the intelligence links to Mr. Shah since it wasn’t in the public domain until reported by The Washington Post.
“If it is evidence or intelligence it would certainly be classified,” Mr. Stanton said. “If it doesn’t exist in open source and The Washington Post is quoting Canadian government officials then it sounds like something that would have been classified unless there is some special regime where they can release stuff to certain designated persons.”
The Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The newspaper also reported on a private five-hour conversation that Ms. Drouin, Mr. Morrison and RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn had in Singapore on Oct. 12 with Ajit Doval, a former spymaster and current national security adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Canadians shared evidence of India’s involvement in killings and other violent acts but The Post said Mr. Doval denied any links to violence.
The Indian government has accused Canada of making assertions without any facts and accused Ottawa of a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.
The Oct. 14 allegations from the RCMP led Ottawa to expel six Indian diplomats, including High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma. India retaliated by expelling six Canadian diplomats. The tit-for-tat exchange came two days before Mr. Trudeau testified before the foreign interference inquiry and as he faces internal Liberal Party dissent over his continued leadership.
Commissioner Duheme has said 30 people have so far been charged in connection to homicides and cases of extortion and the police alleged that some of those individuals are connected to the Indian government. In addition, the RCMP said the targets were members of the pro-Khalistan movement, which has the goal of carving out a separate Sikh state from Punjab.
The assassination plots against Sikh separatist leaders in Canada and the U.S. have tested their relationship with India at time when Western countries hope to forge deeper ties with New Delhi to counter Beijing’s rising global influence.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department laid murder-for-hire charges against Vikash Yadav, an Indian government official, who is accused of planning to murder prominent Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York City last year. The plot was foiled by the FBI and was meant to precede other politically motivated killings in the U.S. and Canada.
