00:00 the leader of the NDP or myself previously.
00:04 When we have raised those issues,
00:07 Mr Speaker, you know what the consequences were?
00:11 I was refused visa to travel to India.
00:16 And this is how the government of India intimidates people,
00:20 intimidates our parliament, let alone the public.
00:24 We all got to come together, whether it's consultants, liberals, blocs,
00:29 NDP or Green or Independent, to come together to condemn
00:33 this so-called democracy and stand for the rights of Canadians.
00:40 Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'd like to ask the Parliamentary
00:44 Secretary if he's been witness to a lot of debates
00:47 here on foreign interference. All members of this House, all parties in
00:52 this House have condemned any form of foreign
00:54 interference, particularly when we had the debates on
00:57 China's foreign interference into Canada. I find it very surprising that of
01:02 every other party has spoken in condemning foreign interference by
01:06 India, but one party is definitely silent in here.
01:09 Does it mean that only foreign interference would affect your votes as
01:12 a Conservative? Are you to stand up for them? Or does it
01:16 mean you stand up for any foreign interference when lives are at stake?
01:20 And in this case, a person lost his life and I don't see that other side
01:24 speaking. I want to know if it only matters when
01:26 Conservative votes get lost and a member from Steveson loses an election,
01:30 and only then does it matter can the member from Windsor-Tecumseh be
01:34 said.
01:35 The Honourable Parliamentary Secretary. I want to thank my Honourable colleague for
01:41 his excellent question and also for his incredible work for
01:45 being the voice of communities across immigrant
01:48 communities, new Canadian communities from across the country, coast to coast.
01:52 You know, solidarity means that an attack
01:56 on one of us is an attack on all of us as Canadians, and it is up to all of us
02:02 in this House to stand together and to stand firm
02:07 against this type of assault. This is an attack on the Canadian Charter of Rights
02:12 and Freedoms. It's an attack on who we are as Canadians.
02:15 And my Honourable colleague is absolutely right. The silence,
02:20 the silence from the opposition members is absolutely deafening.
02:24 Just one party. And it is absolutely one party I would say. There's one party
02:29 and that's the Conservative Party, and their silence is absolutely deafening
02:33 and it is absolutely telling. Thank you Madam Speaker.
02:37 For many Canadians, including those from the Sikh community, yesterday confirmed
02:41 what they already knew and felt. Many deep-seated fears were
02:46 realized. In the Sikh community you grew up
02:49 learning and hearing about the Indian state and how they have treated
02:52 Sikhs. How the Indian state keeps an eye on Sikhs in Canada.
02:56 To hear that there is a potential link between the murder of a Sikh
03:00 living in Canada and the Indian state strikes
03:03 at the very heart of the security that a lot of Sikhs came to Canada
03:07 to find.
03:10 Madam Speaker, a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.
03:15 Now we will test the veracity of those words. A Canadian
03:19 was killed on Canadian soil. In seeking justice we must heal the
03:25 divisions of the past and not create further divisions. As
03:29 Canadians we are one people with a common future. For the strength
03:34 of our democracy and the harmony of our people we must come
03:36 together and close rank. We must stand united against foreign powers that seek
03:41 to undermine our fundamental freedoms.
03:46 It's true in Canada that we have diverging views.
03:49 This is not a sign of weakness. The strength of democracy is in fact shown
03:54 most in how openly we can air those
03:57 diverging views. I call on all Canadians to unite.
04:02 While there will be time to debate our differences
04:05 now is the time to find common ground. Despite the pain we must be patient.
04:12 We must trust our institution to do the important work
04:15 of carrying out justice and we will wait and we will demand for justice. Thank you.
04:24 The potential involvement of the Indian government in the killing
04:29 of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is a grave violation of our sovereignty.
04:36 It goes against the principles that we hold so dear.
04:39 And the perpetrators of the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
04:44 need to be brought to justice. And my message
04:47 to Canadians originally who were born in India or their families who originally
04:50 came from there, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists,
04:53 Christians and more. Those who seek to undermine Canada's sovereignty
04:57 will do and say things to delegitimize and undermine your existence
05:02 as a Canadian. To that I say whatever your faith you are a Canadian.
05:10 Whatever the colour of your skin you are a Canadian.
05:14 You are a Canadian and Canada is a free and strong democracy.
05:19 The Indian government is committing a lot of crimes but we never thought that we would be in danger of this in Canada.
05:28 I want to tell everyone that I am here and I will not move until justice and justice are found in this matter.
05:39 I will not move until all the links are fully searched and justice is found.
05:49 I want you to know you can trust that New Democrats and everyone in this house
05:52 will fight with everything we have to ensure that
05:55 this serious reprehensible matter is treated with the utmost seriousness
06:00 and focus and that we bring justice. Thank you.
06:05 We've been clear we will not tolerate any form of foreign interference.
06:11 Since this was brought to our attention we've been guided by three principles.
06:17 The first one we will seek the truth. The second one we will protect Canadians at all times.
06:25 And thirdly we will protect Canada's sovereignty.
06:32 I've conveyed these principles to my Indian counterpart
06:35 and I've also told him that we expect India's full collaboration
06:40 to make sure that we get to the bottom of this.
06:43 And as of today and as a consequence we've expelled a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
06:51 So let me just say that in French.
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