Canada is moving its diplomats posted in India to Singapore and Malaysia ahead of India’s October 10 deadline, according to reports. Sources say the Canadian side tried to negotiate with India but was unsuccessful.
After Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of Indian agencies in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, New Delhi asked Ottawa to pull out 41 of its diplomats to bring parity in numbers. CNN-News18 reported this earlier.
According to government sources, India now wants Canada to recall more than two dozen diplomats from its mission in New Delhi.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau made unwarranted accusations against India following the death of a terrorist. (Image: Reuters File)
As the diplomatic stand-off between India and Canada continues, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said Ottawa is not looking to escalate the situation with India.
Trudeau, who created a diplomatic storm after he linked the Government of India with the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, said Canada will responsibly and constructively with New Delhi.
“Canada is not looking to escalate the situation with India, will continue to engage responsibly and constructively with New Delhi. We want to be on the ground in India to help the Canadian families there,” Reuters quoted Trudeau as saying.
The relations between both the countries are seeing an all-time low after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged, in his Parliament, the involvement of a “foreign agent” in the killing of Khalistan separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He even claimed that he had intelligence inputs and evidence that the Indian government could be behind Nijjar’s death.
Nijjar was killed by unidentified gunmen outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, Canada, on June 18. He was the chief of banned Khalistan Tiger Force, and was designated a terrorist by the Indian government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in 2020. Interpol had also issued red corner notice against him quite a few times, the first one being in 2016.
India Asks Canada to Recall Its Diplomatic Staff: Govt Sources
After suspending visa processes for Canadians, New Delhi wants Ottawa to recall more than two dozen of its diplomats from India, according to top government sources.
Top government sources also said Canada cannot be “given free hand” as their non-cooperation in terror investigations is one of the main reasons why New Delhi is heading towards taking the decision to downsize Canada’s diplomatic presence in India. “Their top officials (Canada’s) come and meet and promise, but don’t deliver.”
New Delhi previously said that it wanted ‘parity’ in the number and grade of diplomats that each nation posts to the other.
The flags of Canada and India. Credit: iStock Photo
India has told Canada to withdraw around 40 diplomats by October 10, Financial Times reported. The publication, citing people familiar with the matter, said that the Narendra Modi government has threatened to revoke diplomatic immunity of diplomats who remain beyond the set date.
The move marks an escalation of tensions that has been brewing since Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
New Delhi previously said that it wanted ‘parity’ in the number and grade of diplomats that each nation posts to the other.
India had already issed a visa ban for Canadians soon after Trudeau’s explosive claims on September 18.
“Declaring more Canadian diplomats personae non gratae wouldn’t help the situation and would make reducing the emotions associated with this disagreement more difficult”, FT reported Peter Boehm, chair of the Canadian Senate committee on foreign affairs and international trade saying.
Trudeau’s aide had recently offered ‘help’ to India in the matter of Nijjar’s killing while junking allegations of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, being involved in the matter. Adding fuel to fire, BJP leader Tejinder Pall Singh Bagga has claimed that Nijjar was gay and Trudeau used to like him, but Nijjar chose to be with someone else, trying to paint it as a possible motive for killing.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk slammed the Justin Trudeau government in Canada for “crushing free speech” in the country.
Twitter, now X. Corp, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.(AP)
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk slammed the Justin Trudeau government in Canada for “crushing free speech” in the country.
His remark came in wake of a recent order of the Canada government which makes it compulsory for online streaming services to formally register with the government for ‘regulatory controls’.
Musk was responding to a post by journalist and author Glenn Greenwald who was commenting on the ruling.
“The Canadian government, armed with one of the world’s most repressive online censorship schemes, announces that all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must formally register with the government to permit regulatory controls,” Greenwald posted on X (formerly Twitter)
Responding to this, Elon Musk stated, “Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful”.
Notably, this is not the first time the Trudeau government is being accused of acting against free speech.
In February 2022, Trudeau invoked emergency powers — for the first time in country’s history — to arm his government with more power to respond to the trucker protests, who were opposing the vaccine mandates at that time.
Meanwhile, Canadian PM created an uproar after he alleged India’s role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’.
Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Sukh Dhaliwal did not answer directly the question on allegations of Indian agency’s involvement in Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing. (Photo: X @sukhdhaliwal)
Amid allegations that Sukhminder aka Sukh Singh Dhaliwal, Canadian MP from Surrey, is close to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which is allegedly involved in pro-Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing in Canada, Justin Trudeau’s aide rubbished the claims, and assured the India government of “all help” in the matter.
Dhaliwal told News18 exclusively that “as a Member of Parliament, I would not stay close to any member of foreign agencies. Whoever is giving you this information is totally wrong and irresponsible.”
When asked why Trudeau has raised the matter of Nijjar’s killing after his return to Canada from the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10, Dhaliwal refuted the claim, and said before the Canadian PM’s visit to India, his government had raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After coming to Canada, “the very first day when Parliament opened after the summer break, he (Trudeau) made the statement that a foreign state agent was involved in the killing of Nijjar”.
When confronted that the “foreign agent” could be ISI, Dhaliwal said it is clear that the “Indian agency” was involved in Nijjar’s killing.
The Canadian government has so far not provided any evidence to support its allegations of the Indian government’s involvement in Nijjars’ killing despite latter’s repeated insistence. Even Dhaliwal sounded wavering when slapped with the same question. “There is an evidence that will be shared in court. He (Trudeau) does not want to mess up the justice system. He is a firm believer in justice. The Prime Minister of Canada will not make such a statement. The Five Eyes are standing with us,” Dhaliwal stressed.
Five Eyes is an alliance comprising Australia, Canada, UK, US and New Zealand, which share intelligence information with each other.
The Indian government has time and again raised the issue of notorious Indian criminal gangs operating in Canada with Trudeau’s government, for which, New Delhi has also sent 24 Letter Rogatory to Ottawa. Dhaliwal said Canada has always “cooperated” with India. “Who gave them the fake passports? India. Who is messing up our country, it is India.” He even stressed that he never received any LRs from the National Investigation Agency nor had any discussions with them.
The forum also stressed their concern at the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women’s employment and girls’ education and urged the group to promote modern education in schools
The Moscow Format was established in 2017 to promote national reconciliation in Afghanistan. (ANI)
Members of a Russia-led forum on Afghanistan, including India, have urged the Taliban setup in Kabul to eliminate terrorist groups active on Afghan soil and to prevent the country being a “terrorism and instability hotspot”.
The Kazan Declaration, issued at the conclusion of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan on Friday, pointed out that the Taliban regime has made no progress in forming a “truly inclusive government” that reflects the interests of all ethno-political groups of the country.
India was represented at the talks held in the Russian city of Kazan by the country’s ambassador in Moscow, Pavan Kapoor. The Moscow Format was established in 2017 to promote national reconciliation in Afghanistan and other members of the forum are Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Kazan Declaration said the forum had called on the Taliban setup to “take effective measures to dismantle, eliminate and prevent placement of all sorts of terrorist groups based in Afghanistan and to prevent the country from being the terrorism and instability hotspot and spreading to the regional states”.
The declaration regretted that “there had been no progress in forming a truly inclusive government in Afghanistan, reflecting the interests of all ethno-political groups”. It said: “Despite the appointment of some individual representatives of various Afghan ethnicities to the Kabul administration, the parties observed no political pluralism in it.”
The minister was referring to the extradition requests Dhaka has made to Ottawa to bring back two fugitive army officers who were involved in assassinating the country’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and members of his family in 1975.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen. -X/@BDMOFA
Amid the India-Canada diplomatic standoff over the killing of Canadian citizen and Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said in a TV interview that Canada must not become a ‘hub of all murderers’.
He was referring to the extradition requests Dhaka has made to Ottawa to bring back two of the fugitive army officers who were involved in assasinating the country’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and members of his family in 1975.
“Murderers can go to Canada and take shelter, and they can have a wonderful life while those he killed, their relatives are suffering (sic),” Momen was quoted as saying in the interview by the Times of India.
Speaking about one of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s killers, the minister said, “He’s having a good life in Canada. He has been there. We have been requesting the Canadian government to send back self-confessed killer of Bangabandhu, the father of our nation. Unfortunately, Canada is not listening to us and they have come up with a variety of excuses. So, we also went to the Canadian court to understand what is the status since he is staying in Canada for a long time (sic)”.
“So we are saying that Canada’s government is a government of the rule of law, they believe in the legal system. Canada must not be a hub of all murderers. We have been asking the Canadian government to deport them. They know it, but unfortunately, currently they don’t even talk to us on this issue (sic),” Momen added.
The housing crisis, coupled with lack of jobs and inflation, is making the lives of Indian students in Canada extremely difficult. Such is the situation that some are questioning if shifting to Canada at this moment should even be considered.
The presence of more than 800,000 foreign students in Canada in 2022 was blamed by some sections of the Canadian media for “exacerbating the housing crisis”. (AI Generated Image for Representation)
Students who have landed fresh from India are lugging their bags and going door to door in residential neighbourhoods in Canada’s Ontario, seeking spaces on rent from absolute strangers. The desperate move by the students, without a roof over their heads, isn’t welcomed by most residents.
Around 30 students, mostly from India, who joined the Canadore College in North Bay, Ontario, protested outside its campus in the first week of September as they were left without shelter. The institute provided the Indian students with just two days of accommodation and then left them to fend for themselves.
The Canadian dream is turning into an unimaginable nightmare for Indians, mostly students in their 20s. Behind this is a housing crisis and a lack of part-time jobs that students bank upon to sustain themselves thousands of kilometres away from home and family.
In 2023, Canada is on track to welcome 500,000 permanent residents on top of a staggering 900,000 international students. One of the key reasons for the Canadian government to bring in immigrants is to drive economic growth and resiliency.
The drive, though, comes at a time when Canada is witnessing a housing crisis.
There is abysmally low construction of houses and the record-high interest rates have made new housing units beyond the reach of common Canadians and new immigrants.
There is a shortfall of at least 3,45,000 housing units across Canada, according to government data.
House rents have skyrocketed too, pushing students to cramped basement setups where their safety is compromised.
Why so many students flock to Canada every year is not because of education. It’s because the student visa provides what is thought to be an easy route to Canada, and then a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship. The student visa route is one of the main channels through which foreign citizens emigrate to Canada. Indians make up the bulk of the foreign students in Canada.
In 2022, 2.26 lakh students out of 5.5 lakh international students, or 40 per cent of the total, were from India, according to Canadian government data. And there were 3.2 lakh Indians staying in Canada on student visas.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said that he was “not surprised” with Trudeau’s “outrageous and unsubstantiated” allegations linking India’s role behind Nijjar’s killing.
Sri Lanka High Commissioner to India Ali Sabry
Sri Lanka has come out in support of India amid the latter’s ongoing row with Canada, saying that terrorists have found “safe haven” in Ottawa and that Trudeau made “outrageous” allegations about India’s role without providing any solid evidence.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, in an interview with news agency ANI, said that he was “not surprised” with Trudeau’s “outrageous and unsubstantiated” allegations linking India’s role behind the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
“Some of the terrorists have found safe haven in Canada. The Canadian PM has this way of just coming out with some outrageous allegations without any supporting proof. The same thing they did for Sri Lanka, a terrible, total lie about saying that Sri Lanka had a genocide. Everybody knows there was no genocide in our country,” said the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister.
He also said that Trudeau’s ‘genocide’ comment on Sri Lanka has negatively affected the relations between the two countries and asked the Canadian PM to refrain from interfering in the matters of a sovereign country.
“I don’t think anyone should poke their nose into other countries and tell as to how we should govern our country. We love our country more than anyone else. That’s why we are in our country… We have to look after our region. We need to work together. That’s how we can create a peaceful environment. We should not be dictated by anyone else as to how we should conduct our affairs,” he told ANI.
In May, Trudeau announced that the Canadian Parliament has marked May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, which was sharply rebuked by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry for “politically-motivated statement for domestic political consumption”.
We support India on this matter: Sri Lankan envoy
Meanwhile, outgoing Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India came out in India’s defence in the matter, saying that Colombo supports New Delhi’s “firm and direct” response to the Canadian PM’s remarks.
In a press conference, Milinda Moragoda said, “I think India’s response has been inequitable and also firm and direct. And I think as far as we are concerned, we support India on that. Having said that, also, in my lifetime now, I’m 60 years old, 40 years of my life, we have spent facing various forms of terrorism in Sri Lanka. I have lost many friends, and colleagues to terrorism.”
He further said that the people of Sri Lanka have a zero tolerance for terrorist activities as its people have suffered to terrorism for a very long time.
India-Canada row
Tensions between India and Canada reached a boiling point after Trudeau alleged India’s role in the fatal shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep S Nijjar, the chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). Nijar, a designated terrorist in India, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
India angrily rejected the Canadian PM’s allegations as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to a similar move by Ottawa. India also temporarily suspended visa services for Canadian nationals in view of “security threats” and called for a reduction of Canadian diplomats in New Delhi.
Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair on Sunday termed the relationship with India as “important” and said that his country will continue to pursue partnerships like the Indo-Pacific strategy.
Tensions heightened between the two countries following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.
India has rejected the allegations as “absurd” and “motivated”.
Canada will continue to pursue those partnerships while the investigation into allegations continues, calling the relationship with India “important”, said Blair in an interview aired on Sunday on The West Block by Global News.
“We understand that this can be, and has proven to be, a challenging issue with respect to our relationship with India,” he was quoted as saying by Global News. “But at the same time, we have a responsibility to defend the law, defend our citizens, and at the same time make sure that we conduct a thorough investigation and get to the truth.”
New Delhi expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
In 2020, India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist.
Blair also said that if the allegations are proven true then “there is a very significant concern that Canada will have with respect to the violation of our sovereignty in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.”
Fox News anchor Bret Baier looks at the investigations into the Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the continental U.S. in February and other objects that were shot down after on ‘Special Report.’
Canadian Jewish organizations and social media critics are slamming the Canadian Parliament for giving a man who fought for the Nazis a standing ovation during an event featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the country.
“FSWC is appalled that Canada’s Parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran who served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others. An apology and explanation is owed,” the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Canadian nonprofit dedicated to educating people on the Holocaust, wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.
Video and photos show the Canadian Parliament erupted into cheers on Friday during Zelenskyy’s visit to the country’s capital of Ottawa, when Canadian lawmakers also honored Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian immigrant who fought for the First Ukrainian Division, according to the Toronto Star. That division was also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, which fought for the Nazis as its paramilitary arm under the Schutzstaffel organization, according to the outlet.
“The fact that a veteran who served in a Nazi military unit was invited to and given a standing ovation in Parliament is shocking. At a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust distortion, it is incredibly disturbing to see Canada’s Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others and that was declared a criminal organization during the Nuremberg Trials,” the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center continued in their statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognize Yaroslav Hunka, who was in attendance and fought with the First Ukrainian Division in World War II before later immigrating to Canada, in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP) (AP )
Social media commenters have joined the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in condemning the Canadian House for celebrating Hunka, who some called a “literal Nazi” and “monster.”
Canadian columnist Joe Warmington called for a “full apology” “for celebrating a Second World War Nazi in the House of Commons,” in an op-ed published Sunday in the Toronto Sun.
Local Canadian outlets said the Associated Press identified the 98-year-old in a photo caption as a veteran of the “First Ukrainian Division in World War II,” and noted other outlets described the man as a Ukrainian immigrant to Canada who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.
The Soviet Union played a pivotal role in defeating Nazi Germany, including during the Battle of Stalingrad, which marked a turning point in the war. The U.S. Department of State outlines on its website that “without the remarkable efforts of the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, the United States and Great Britain would have been hard pressed to score a decisive military victory over Nazi Germany.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada wasn’t looking to escalate tensions, but asked India on Tuesday, Sept. 19, to take the killing of a Sikh activist seriously after India called accusations that the Indian government may have been involved absurd.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Information shared by members of an intelligence-sharing alliance was part of what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used to make public allegations of the Indian government’s possible involvement in the assassination of a Sikh Canadian, the U.S. ambassador to Canada said.
“There was shared intelligence among ‘Five Eyes’ partners that helped lead Canada to (make) the statements that the prime minister made,” U.S. Ambassador David Cohen told Canadian CTV News network.
CTV News released some of Cohen’s comments late Friday, and the network said that it would air the full interview with the U.S. envoy on Sunday. No further details were released about the shared intelligence.
On Thursday, a Canadian official told The Associated Press that the allegation of India’s involvement in the killing is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, including intelligence provided by a major ally — without saying which one.
The “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance is made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The relationship between Canada and India reached its lowest point in recent history when Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh separatist, in June in a Vancouver suburb. Both countries have expelled some top diplomats.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Canada, where he will be guaranteed a warmer reception than he received during yesterday’s Washington visit. The Ukrainian president assured US politicians Kyiv is “winning” – but some sections of Congress are battling against more funding for the war effort.
Pic: https://www.aljazeera.com/
The three major powers have all built new facilities and dug new tunnels at their nuclear test sites, according to CNN.
Satellite images obtained by the broadcaster appear to show expansions at the nuclear sites in recent years.
No evidence suggests any are preparing for imminent nuclear tests.
The sites are in China’s western region of Xinjiang, Russia’s Arctic Ocean archipelago, and America’s Nevada desert.
The images show new tunnels, roads and storage facilities, as well as increased vehicle traffic in and out of the sites.
Jeffrey Lewis, an adjunct professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, there are really a lot of hints that we’re seeing that suggest Russia, China and the United States might resume nuclear testing.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday issued a list of wanted gangsters, who are involved in the terror cases registered by the probe agency.
The list features dreaded gangsters, including those known for supporting the Khalistan propaganda and are based in Canada. It also has names of members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Among the criminals listed by the NIA, gangsters Goldy Brar, Arshdeep Singh Gill and Lakhbir Singh Landa are known for supporting Khalistan terrorists.
Taking to X, the probe agency released the pictures of 43 accused gang leaders and criminals. Those on the NIA list are Lawrence Bishnoi, Jasdeep Singh, Kala Jatheri, alias Sandeep, Virender Pratap, alias Kala Rana, Joginder Singh, Rajesh Kumar, alias Raju Mota, Raj Kumar, alias Raju Basodi, Anil Chippi, Mohammad Shahbaz, Goldy Brar, Ansari, Sachin Thapan Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi, Vikramjit Singh, alias Vikram Brar, Darman Singh, alias Darmanjot Kahlon, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Surender Singh alias Chiku, Dalip Kumar, alias Bhola, Parveen Wadhwa, alias Prince, Yudhveer Singh, Vikas Singh, Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, Gaurav Patyal, alias Saurav Thakur, Sukhpreet Singh, alias Budda, Amit Dagar, Kaushal Choudhary, Asif Khan, Naveen Dabas, alias Naveen Bali, Chhotu Ram, alias Bhat, Jagseer Singh, alias Jagga, Sunil Balvan, alias Tillu Tajpuria, Bhupinder Singh, alias Bhupi Rana, Sandeep alias Bandar, Sukhdool Singh, Gurpinder Singh, Neerai, alias Pandi, Daler Singh, Dinesh Sharma, Manprit Singh Peeta, Hariom, alias Titu, Harpreet, Lakhveer Singh, Irfan alias Chhenu Pehalwan and Sunny Dagar.
The allegation of India’s involvement in the killing of a Sikh Canadian is based on surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, including intelligence provided by a major ally, a Canadian official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The official said the communications involved Indian officials and Indian diplomats in Canada and that some of the intelligence was provided by a member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to Canada.
The official did not say which ally provided intelligence or give details of what was contained in the communications or how they were obtained. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation first reported the intelligence.
The revelation came as India stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens and told Canada to reduce its diplomatic staff as the rift widened over allegations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of suspected Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh separatist.
Ties between the two countries have plunged to their lowest point in years after Trudeau told Parliament Monday there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the assassination on Canadian soil.
Nijjar, a plumber who was born in India and became a Canadian citizen in 2007, had been wanted by India for years before he was gunned down in June outside the temple he led in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.
Speaking Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trudeau acknowledged the complicated diplomatic situation.
“The decision to share these allegations on the floor of the House of Commons was not done lightly,” he said. “There is no question that India is a country of growing importance and a country that we need to continue to work with.”
“We are not looking to provoke or cause problems but we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law and unequivocal about the importance of protecting Canadians.”
The bombshell allegation set off an international tit-for-tat, with each country expelling a diplomat. India called the allegations “absurd.”
Canada has yet to provide public evidence to back Trudeau’s allegations, and Canada’s U.N. ambassador, Bob Rae, indicated that might not come soon.
“This is very early days,” Rae told reporters Thursday, saying that while facts will emerge, they must “come out in the course of the pursuit of justice.”
“That’s what we call the rule of law in Canada,” he said.
Meanwhile, the company that processes Indian visas in Canada announced services had been suspended. Canadians are among the top travelers to India, with 277,000 Canadian tourists visiting the country in 2022, according to India’s Bureau of Immigration.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi blamed the visa suspension, which includes visas issued in third countries, on safety issues.
A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren Acquire Licensing Rights
Canada worked “very closely” with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in the murder of a Sikh leader in British Columbia earlier this year, a senior Canadian government source said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that domestic intelligence agencies were actively pursuing credible allegations tying New Delhi’s agents to the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, in June.
“We’ve been working with the U.S. very closely, including on the public disclosure yesterday,” the source said. The evidence in Canada’s possession would be shared “in due course”, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.
Trudeau on Tuesday told reporters that the case had far-reaching consequences in international law, and urged the Indian government to take the matter seriously and help Canada fully investigate the matter.
India quickly dismissed Trudeau’s assertion as absurd, and said it was expelling a Canadian diplomat, a tit-for-tat move after Canada expelled India’s top intelligence figure on Monday.
The dispute deals a fresh blow to diplomatic ties that have been fraying for years, with New Delhi unhappy over Sikh separatist activity in Canada.
“I would expect that normal discussions between the two governments will be difficult while this issue is being resolved,” said Roland Paris, Trudeau’s former foreign policy adviser and a professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa.
Canadian PM Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The reports coming out of Canada were “concerning”, British MP reacted over Justin Trudeau’s charges.
Amid the sharp escalation in diplomatic tensions, triggered by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation of Indian involvement in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist on its soil, British Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi on Tuesday said many “anxious, angry and fearful Sikhs” from Slough and beyond have contacted him.
He added that the reports coming out of Canada were “concerning”.
Taking to his official handle on X, the British Labour MP posted, “Concerning reports coming from #Canada. Many #Sikhs from #Slough and beyond have contacted me; anxious, angry or fearful. Given Canadian PM Trudeau stated they’ve been working with close allies, we’re in touch with UK Gov to ensure justice is delivered.”
Many #Sikhs from #Slough and beyond have contacted me; anxious, angry or fearful.
Given Canadian PM Trudeau stated they’ve been working with close allies, we’re in touch with UK Gov to ensure justice is delivered.https://t.co/U4ceflJmHq
In an explosive charge on Monday, Canadian PM Trudeau alleged that Indian agents were behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Addressing the Canadian Parliament on Monday (US local time), Trudeau claimed that his country’s national security officials had reasons to believe that “agents of the Indian government” carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
“Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” Trudeau said.
India, however, rejected the allegations, terming them “absurd” and “motivated”.
“We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in an official statement.
Canadian diplomat is ordered to leave hours after Ottawa expelled Indian diplomat over the killing of a Sikh separatist.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) reads a joint statement as his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau looks on at Hyderabad House in New Delhi [File: Adnan Abidi/Reuters]A senior Canadian diplomat has been ordered to leave India within five days, the Indian foreign ministry said, hours after Ottawa expelled an Indian diplomat in an escalating rift over the killing of a Sikh separatist earlier this year.
New Delhi’s decision reflected its “growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities”, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The duelling expulsions come as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled a trade mission to India that was planned later this year.
Protests by pro-Sikh independence groups in Canada have angered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Ottawa on Monday said it was “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
Nijjar was reportedly organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death.
India dismissed the Canadian accusation as “absurd and motivated” and urged it to instead take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil.
Sikh separatist movement
Last year, the Indian authorities announced a cash reward for information leading to Nijjar’s arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
The Sikh independence movement, commonly referred to as the Khalistan movement, is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the parliament on Monday he brought up Nijjar’s killing with Modi at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” he said. “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”
On Tuesday, the MEA released a statement dismissing the allegation and saying Trudeau had made similar allegations to Modi.
“Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement said, referring to the proposed autonomous Sikh homeland.
“We are not looking to provoke or escalate,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them, and we want to work with the government of India.”
As on Monday, when he first made his allegation in the House of Commons, the prime minister offered no details to support his charge that India was behind the shooting in June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader, near a Sikh temple in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia. He has only cited “credible allegations,” which he said have been pursued by Canada’s security agencies for several weeks.
A Canadian government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said the intelligence had been gathered by multiple countries. Canada is a member of the so-called Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance that includes the United States, Britain and Australia. The Canadian security agencies, noting the continuing police investigation into the killing and the need to protect intelligence gathering methods, have declined to offer any more details.
A group of men outside the temple in Surrey, British Columbia, Monday, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed in June.Credit…Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press
The official said it is likely the intelligence will be made public when the investigations are complete. The government decided, the official said, to reveal the extraordinary allegation on Monday, Parliament’s first day back from its summer break, because of inquiries from journalists.
Once investigations are complete, the official said, it is likely that the specific findings behind Canada’s charge will be revealed.
India has long claimed that Canada is harboring Sikh terrorists plotting from abroad to fracture the Indian state by providing funding and working to create a separate Sikh nation called Khalistan that would include portions of India’s Punjab region.
Mr. Nijjar was active in that independence movement, and his participation featured prominently in India’s adamant denial of involvement in his killing.
As the foreign ministry of India said in a statement that it rejected “any attempts to connect the government of India” to Mr. Nijjar’s killing, it took the opportunity to admonish Canada, accusing it of sheltering “extremists and terrorists” who “continue to threaten India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Mr. Nijjar had been a key organizer in rallying community members in British Columbia to vote to establish Khalistan. The nonbinding vote, organized by a Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit group called Sikhs For Justice, is being held in multiple cities around the world.
Canadian leader says profits should not be made ‘on the backs of people who are struggling to feed their families’.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced measures to control the rising costs of living [File: Blair Gable/Reuters]Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned grocery chains that they could be hit with new taxes if they do not take steps to control rising food prices.
Trudeau said the heads of the five largest supermarket chains, including Walmart and Costco, would be asked to come up with a plan to address rising prices before Thanksgiving.
Trudeau, who is facing questions about his leadership amid sagging public approval, also announced that sales tax would be waived for the construction of new rental apartments as part of measures to address cost-of-living concerns.
“If their plan doesn’t provide real relief for the middle class and people working hard to join it, then we will take further action, and we are not ruling anything out including tax measures,” Trudeau said at the end of a caucus retreat in London, Ontario, on Thursday.
Trudeau said it did not make sense that supermarket chains were making record profits at a time when many Canadians were struggling to make ends meet.
“Large grocery chains are making record profits,” he said. “Those profits should not be made on the backs of people who are struggling to feed their families.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was stuck in New Delhi since Sunday after his plane suffered a technical snag. (Photo by AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was reportedly offered the service of Air India One by New Delhi. However, the Canadian side “declined” the offer and decided to wait for the replacement aircraft.
The prime minister and his delegation, who were to leave the national capital after the G20 summit on Sunday, were stranded here due to technical issues with their aircraft. They finally flew out on Tuesday afternoon after another Canadian plane arrived for him.
News agency ANI later on Tuesday quoted its sources as saying that Trudeau had rejected Air India One services. The report came at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada to his Canadian counterpart on the sidelines of G20 Summit.
“The PM conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
In July, India summoned the Canadian envoy and issued a demarche over the increasing activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, days after posters featuring names of India’s senior diplomats serving in Canada featured in some posters in certain areas in that country.
In June, a video emerged on social media that showed a float depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It was reportedly part of a parade that was organised by some Khalistani elements in Brampton.
Asked about India’s concerns over the increasing activities of the Khalistani elements in Canada, Trudeau said at a press conference that his country will always defend freedom of peaceful protest but at the same time asserted that it will always prevent violence and push back against hatred.
“Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us,” he said.
“At the same time, we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred. I think on the issue of the community, it is important to remember that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada,” Trudeau said.
80 per cent of NRIs based in Australia and Singapore, 70 per cent from the UK and 75 per cent from the USA consider a return to India as part of their retirement plans
The financial benefits India provides to its NRIs are quite significant as it allows them to earn in foreign currencies and convert their income to invest and save in India.
The Indian economy demonstrates great resilience across sectors, especially after the pandemic. The country continues to make itself financially stable for its citizens and non-residents. Against this backdrop, the majority of people who packed their bags to move abroad to accomplish their dreams are considering settling down in India after retirement.
The financial benefits India provides to its NRIs are quite significant as it allows them to earn in foreign currencies and convert their income to invest and save in India. In a recent survey, SBNRI—an NRI-focused fintech platform unveiled—at least 60 per cent of NRIs from Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK, and Singapore are considering returning to India as part of their retirement plans. The SBNRI platform surveyed 100 NRIs.
Though retirement planning is off the radar for many people in their 30s and 40s, NRIs have set a robust financial plan well in advance. The SBNRI survey reveals that 80 per cent of NRIs based in Australia and Singapore, 70 per cent from the UK and 75 per cent from the USA consider returning to India as part of their retirement plans, followed by 63 per cent of Canadian NRIs.
India is an emerging global start-up hub with momentous manufacturing capabilities, financial services and technology advancements. It is formulating a strong strategy to stabilise its economy. This has made a whopping 72 per cent of NRIs believe that India has a stable investment avenue for its inhabitants as well as non-residents. This gives an ample opportunity to NRIs to diversify their investments, ultimately affecting their decision to return to their native land post-retirement.
Mudit Vijayvergiya of SBNRI said, “India is making a strong rebound with digitised and stable economic activities emerging in the market. This makes India hold a promising future for investors. The country is also making it easy for NRIs to understand complex taxation systems and certain norms that make India a high return market for NRI investors to utilize as their retirement plans.”
In an unexpected move, Canada halted talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, just three months after both nations expressed the goal of reaching an initial agreement this year.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India in 2018. (Photo: Reuters)
Canada on Friday unexpectedly said it had paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India, just three months after the two nations said they aimed to seal an initial agreement this year.
Canada and India have been talking off and on since 2010 about a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The talks were formally relaunched last year.
“Trade negotiations are long, complex processes. And we’ve paused to take stock of where we are,” a government official told reporters ahead of a trip by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to New Delhi next week.
The official, who spoke on the condition he not be identified, declined to give more details.
About 30,000 households have been ordered to evacuate in Canada’s British Columbia province, where nearly 400 wildfires are raging.
Two huge fires in the Shuswap region merged overnight, destroying blocks of houses and other buildings.
To the south, travel to the waterside city of Kelowna has been restricted, and smoke from nearby fires hangs over Lake Okanagan.
Fires have charred homes in West Kelowna, a nearby city of 36,000.
The travel restriction around Kelowna is designed to ensure enough accommodation for evacuees and emergency workers. It also applies to the towns of Kamloops, Oliver, Penticton and Vernon and Osoyoos.
Hundreds of miles north, a huge fire continues to edge towards the city of Yellowknife.
An official deadline to evacuate the city – the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories – lapsed on Friday. A local official said later that day that nearly all residents had left, either by car or plane.
About 19,000 of the city’s 20,000 inhabitants had evacuated. Authorities said 39 patients were moved out of a hospital to alternative facilities on Friday evening, making them the last people to be evacuated from the city.
Environment and communities minister Shane Thompson said some people had chosen “to shelter in place”, but urged locals to leave.
In British Columbia, evacuation orders grew from covering 15,000 homes on Friday to at least 30,000 by Saturday evening. Another 36,000 homes are under evacuation alert.
The province’s emergency management minister said officials “cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to follow evacuation orders”.
Bowinn Ma added: “They are a matter of life and death not only for the people in those properties, but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave.”
Premier of the province, David Eby, put the total number of people ordered to leave at 35,000, with 30,000 told to be prepared to evacuate.
One Kelowna resident told the BBC the fires came over the mountainside like an “ominous cloud of destruction”Smoke from wildfires is hanging over Lake Okanagan, on which Kelowna sits
Canada is having its worst wildfire season on record, with at least 1,000 fires burning across the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
Experts say climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
Extreme and long-lasting heat draws more and more moisture out of the ground – which can provide fuel for fires that can spread at an incredible speed, particularly if winds are strong.
Although no deaths have been reported in the latest fires, at least four firefighters have lost their lives during this record-breaking season.
An official deadline to evacuate Yellowknife as a wildfire looms on its outskirts has lapsed, as residents scramble to leave by air and road.
About 22,000 people – or roughly half the population in Canada’s Northwest Territories – are now displaced in the country’s worst fire season on record.
A separate blaze in the west, that threatens Kelowna, British Columbia, has grown one hundredfold in 24 hours.
Officials have warned the fires “are very active and very unpredictable”.
“The stress of leaving your home not knowing if it will be there when you return is now a reality faced by thousands,” Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, said at a news conference on Friday.
He said the federal government did not yet know the full extent of the damage wrought in what has been an “incredibly challenging week for Canadians”.
The McDougall Creek Wildfire in Kelowna, in the western province of British Columbia, poses a particularly concerning threat to lives and properties after it grew significantly overnight.
The BC Wildfire Service said the fire, which had been mapped at 1,100 hectares early on Thursday evening, was now estimated at 6,800 hectares.
One Kelowna resident told the BBC the fires came over the mountainside like an ‘ominous cloud of destruction’
“The winds were very concerning and we didn’t know where things are going,” Mr Sarjjan told reporters.
Local BC officials declared a state of emergency on Friday morning. More than 2,500 properties have since been evacuated, with thousands more on alert to leave on short notice.
The fast-moving fire is bearing down on a city with a population of about 150,000 people, and officials are already reporting “significant structural loss”, including in Trader’s Cove in the Okanagan Valley.
“We fought hard last night to protect our community,” West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said at a news conference.
He said the actions taken to rescue members of the public and save homes in the area had been akin to “a hundred years of firefighting all at once in one night”.
No deaths have yet been reported, but Mr Brolund said the fire remains “dynamic” and “as significant today as it was last night”, a preview of what may come in the days ahead.
Juliana Loewen, a Kelowna resident who is not currently under evacuation orders, is huddling with more than a dozen other people at her home on Okanagan Lake as they await updates.
She told the BBC how locals had watched a plume of smoke coming over the mountainside like an “ominous cloud of destruction” and how some on the Trader’s Cove side jumped into the lake as the fire spread and exit routes were blocked.
Her brother and grandmother evacuated and came to her house after “the fire jumped very quickly from one tree to an entire area, threatening an entire residential community”.
Roads are jammed up, businesses have shut down and neighbours are on their lawns tossing valuables into their vehicles. “It’s very apocalyptic,” she said.
Residents are used to the fires because of Kelowna’s “California-style climate” but the heat, dryness and wind seen in recent days had created the “perfect conditions for a firestorm”, Ms Loewen added.
The airspace around Kelowna International Airport has now been closed to everything other than aerial firefighters.
Some 2,000km (1,240 miles) north-east, winds blowing in the Northwest Territories on Friday and Saturday could push the blaze outside Yellowknife closer towards the city and one of its highways, the Ingraham Trail.
Successful firefighting efforts have made meaningful progress in holding back the fire over the last two days, and it remains about 15km (9 miles) north-west of the city’s municipal boundary.
Air tankers are flying missions day and night in an effort to further slow the fire.
The Canadian government has said enough pilots will be made available to man the evacuation flights leaving the city.
Amid accusations that some airlines are inflating prices for evacuation flights, officials have warned there will be zero tolerance on price gouging.
Some essential workers have yet to evacuate the city. Among them is Dr Lori Regenstreif, usually based out of Ontario but who has been working in the Northwest Territories over the last week.
She said it has been surreal watching the territory’s capital city go from being a hub for wildfire evacuees from other parts of the Northwest Territories earlier this week to being under its own state of emergency.
“Yellowknife is the go-to. Now Yellowknife is vulnerable,” said Dr Regenstreif. “It’s like their mothership has gone down.”
The streets have been left deserted, and restaurants and businesses have shuttered their doors.
Toronto, Aug 10 (PTI) At least 500 students, including Indians, have been left in limbo after a college in Canada’s Ontario province revoked their admission offers a month before the start of school, according to a media report on Thursday.
Pic: www.deccanherald.com
Some of the students were already in Canada when they were informed their offers had been withdrawn, CBC News reported.
Some 500 international students recently received an email from Northern College in Ontario informing them that their admission offers for this coming school year had been revoked, the report said.
Among the students was Ashley, who had already paid her registration fees and booked her flight from Punjab to Toronto when she found out just over a week ago that she was no longer accepted to Ontario’s Northern College.
“It was very heartbreaking for me. It had a huge impact on my lifestyle,” the report quoted Ashley as saying.
Ashley, who doesn’t have a last name, received her acceptance letter in February to study healthcare administration at Scarborough’s Pures College of Technology, which is an affiliate of Northern College. She had already applied for a student visa, quit her job in healthcare and booked a one-way ticket to Toronto.
Now, instead of packing her bags, Ashley will remain in India while scrambling for a solution.
“It was not a normal process for us as international students who have used all the savings that we have had,” she said.
Pures College said it was “ready, willing and able to accept all international students who received letters of admission,” but that its affiliate, Northern College, decided against doing so. As a private college in partnership with a public college, Pures said it doesn’t have the authority to make final decisions on the admissions process.
Northern College says the problem was caused by Canada approving more visas for international students than expected.
Students will be refunded or transferred to different schools, the college said. But some could still be on the hook for cancelled flights and accommodation.
This isn’t the first time international students have been left in limbo by a Toronto school. Last May, hundreds of students said their enrollment was unilaterally suspended by Alpha College of Business and Technology, an affiliate of St. Lawrence College in Ontario.
Meanwhile, Jaspreet Singh, president of the International Sikh Student Association and a member of the World Sikh Organisation, says these situations are indicative of a bigger problem.
On Friday, an Indian national from Brampton, Ontario, pleaded guilty in a federal court in the United States to human smuggling as part of a network that could have smuggled hundreds of individuals from India across the Canada-United States border.
Simranjit (Shally) Singh, 41, pleaded guilty to six charges of alien smuggling and three counts of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling before Judge Mae A. D’Agostino in Albany, New York.
Singh wore a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit with the words ACCF Inmate (Albany County Correctional Facility) inscribed on the back. He wore black-rimmed glasses with salt and pepper stubble down his face and chin. A little tattoo was hidden behind his left ear, while another was inked along his left forearm.
In front of a febrile crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Raso struck in the ninth minute with a low, right-boot and doubled down in the 39th from a goalmouth scramble as unused captain Sam Kerr cheered by the touchline.
Australia’s Sam Kerr, Emily Van Egmond and Caitlin Foord, from left, react at the end of the Women’s World Cup Group B soccer match between Australia and Canada in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, July 31, 2023. Australia won 4-0. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)
Hayley Raso scored a first half brace and Mary Fowler struck after the break as Australia crushed Canada 4-0 on Monday to storm into the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup and send the Olympic champions spinning out of the tournament.
In front of a febrile crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Raso struck in the ninth minute with a low, right-boot and doubled down in the 39th from a goalmouth scramble as unused captain Sam Kerr cheered by the touchline.
Fowler made sure of the win with a deft touch in the 58th minute that pinged in off the right post, before Steph Catley slotted a penalty in stoppage time as a relieved nation celebrated the co-hosts’ advance.
Canada bowed out at the group stage for the first time since 2011 and with some regret after having needed only a draw to advance.
There was no need for Kerr to be Australia’s saviour and the striker can rest her injured calf for a week before the co-hosts’ next clash in the last 16, most likely against Denmark.
Australia topped Group B on six points, one ahead of Nigeria, who also advanced after a 0-0 draw against Ireland.
Canada’s talismanic captain Christine Sinclair started on the pitch but bowed out of her sixth and final World Cup in disappointment at halftime when coach Bev Priestman triggered a raft of substitutes.
With their tournament on a knife-edge after the 3-2 shock by Nigeria, Australia played with courage and were quickly rewarded when a Steph Catley cross found Raso in the box.
She drilled a low shot inside the far post to put Australia in front. Although an offside flag went up, the goal was confirmed by VAR, sending the crowd into raptures.
They almost made it 2-0 minutes later, but Raso’s shot was well saved by goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
Alberta has declared a state of emergency after wildfires spread across the western Canadian province, driving nearly 25,000 people from their homes.
Faced with more than 100 wildfires, Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith called the situation “unprecedented”.
Residents of Edson, a town of more than 8,000, were told to leave immediately.
Ms Smith said a hot, dry spring had created “so much kindling” and some 122,000 hectares (301,000 acres) had burned so far.
Many of the fires are burning out of control, fanned by strong winds.
The worst-hit areas include Drayton Valley, about 140km (87 miles) west of the provincial capital Edmonton, and Fox Lake, some 550km north of the city, where 20 homes were consumed by fire.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday linked the production of lithium in China to “slave labor” as he discussed his own country’s efforts to ramp up production of the metal used in electric vehicle and other batteries.
Canada has significant sources of lithium, Trudeau said, but China has made strategic choices over the decades that have made it by far the world’s largest producer.
“If we’re honest … the lithium produced in Canada is going to be more expensive. Because we don’t use slave labor,” Trudeau said in remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
“Because we put forward environmental responsibility as something we actually expect to be abided by. Because we count on working with, in partnership, with Indigenous peoples, paying their living wages, expecting security and safety standards.”
A representative for the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment.
Canada last year announced a tougher policy on critical mineral investment – particularly from China – as it worked to shore up its domestic supply after the global pandemic exposed supply chain problems.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada April 26, 2023. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo
“If the pandemic taught us anything, if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s resilience, redundancy and reliability in our supply chains,” Trudeau said.
The United States has alleged use of forced labor by China in sectors including mining and construction. Last year, a U.S. law took effect banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor.
In December, the United Auto Workers union called on automakers to shift their entire supply chain out of Xinjiang after a report by Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University suggested that nearly every major automaker has significant exposure to products made with forced labor.
China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world’s materials for solar panels.
Chinese firms also own, operate or finance most of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt mines, the U.S. Labor Department said in a recent report. “Our research shows that lithium-ion batteries are produced with an input – cobalt – made by child labor,” it said.
President Biden accidentally commended China instead of Canada while praising the nation’s stance on migration on Friday.
Biden made the gaffe during a speech at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa while he was discussing U.S. immigration policies.
“In the United States, we’re expanding legal pathways for migration, to seek safety and humanitarian…humanitarian basis, while discouraging unlawful migration that feeds exploitation and human trafficking,” the president began.
“So today, I applaud China for stepping out…excuse me, I applaud Canada,” Biden stumbled while Canadian Members of Parliament laughed.
US President Joe Biden pauses during a joint press conference with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in Ottawa, Canada, on March 24, 2023. (Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty Images)
“You can tell what I’m thinking…about China. I won’t get into that yet,” Biden said. “I applaud Canada’s stepping up of similar programs.”
Biden did not reference China again during his address to Parliament, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted China’s competitive edge before Biden began speaking.
“Economic policy is climate policy is security policy, with growing competition, including from an increasingly assertive China,” Trudeau said. “There’s no doubt why it matters that we turn to each other now to build up a North American market on everything from semiconductors to solar panel batteries.”
Biden’s speech comes as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate. Chinese officials threatened the U.S. Navy with “serious consequences” on Friday after an American warship was spotted in the South China Sea.
In a heartbreaking tragedy, five Indian students were killed in a road accident in Canada, said India’s High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria on Monday, adding that two others were injured and were hospitalized.
The accident occurred on Saturday on the Ontario highway and two injured students were rushed to the hospital.
Taking to Twitter, Ajay Bisaria expressed deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
