Western Standard - September 18, 2023


Trudeau alleges Indian gov’t killed a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil


Episode Stats

Length

2 minutes

Words per Minute

116.944244

Word Count

323

Sentence Count

18


Summary

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot to death in his own home in broad daylight in the early morning hours of January 31st, 2019. The police investigation into his death is ongoing, and Canada has expressed its deep concerns to the Indian government. Prime Minister Narenda Modi has promised to do whatever it takes to find out who is responsible.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Mr. Speaker, today I'm rising to inform the House of an extremely serious matter.
00:00:07.500 I just informed the leaders of the opposition directly, but I want now to speak with all Canadians.
00:00:14.240 Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations
00:00:21.720 of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen,
00:00:28.800 Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
00:00:33.680 Canada is a rule-of-law country.
00:00:36.660 The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental.
00:00:42.140 Our top priorities have therefore been, one, that our law enforcement and security agencies ensure the continued safety of all Canadians,
00:00:51.380 and, two, that all steps be taken to hold perpetrators of this murder to account.
00:01:00.580 Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government.
00:01:07.960 Last week, at the G20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms.
00:01:18.820 Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
00:01:31.460 It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves.
00:01:41.760 As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter.
00:01:49.620 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.
00:02:02.040 I also expect it to reiterate that its position on extrajudicial operations in another country is clearly and unequivocally in line with international law.
00:02:15.720 I know many Canadians, particularly members of the Indo-Canadian community, are feeling angry or perhaps frightened right now.
00:02:27.240 Let us not allow this to change us.
00:02:31.000 Let us remain calm and steadfast in our commitment to our democratic principles and our adherence to the rule of law.
00:02:40.480 This is who we are and what we do as Canadians.