Trudeau aide leaked ‘intel on India role’ to US paper before Canada’s official briefing: Report

Troubles continue to mount on Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his allegations against the Indian government accusing it of deploying agents to carry out illegal activities, including extortions and murders, in the North American country. A Canadian paper has reported that Trudeau’s close aide leaked the intel that Canada’s police were to claim at a news conference in their bid to back Trudeau’s allegations to the US-based Washington Post.

Trudeau’s national security adviser Nathalie Drouin — the former 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,” wrote Canadian paper The Global And Mail, citing two sources who wished not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak on the matter.  

The paper also writes that the leak to the US publication about the killing of pro-Khalistan militant Sukhdool Singh Gill, wanted by India. Gill was shot in Winnipeg on September 20, 2023.  

Gill was killed two days after Trudeau alleged that Indian government agents were behind the killing of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia in June 2023. Trudeau last week told a Canada’s parliamentary inquiry panel that he had no hard evidence to accuse India of the allegation he levelled in the country’s parliament.

The newspaper goes on to say that the Trudeau government’s selected leak of the said intel to an American paper “stands in contrast to” his view of leaks of classified information on China’s interference activities. The public inquiry into foreign interference had been instituted in Canada following allegations that China meddled with the 2019 and 2021 federal elections — both won by Trudeau.  

According to the Canadian paper, the leaked intel was “not to be published” before Thanksgiving Day (November 23 last year) but the US publication did not pay heed to its sources’ advice.

Almost a year later, the bilateral ties between India and Canada have touched a new low, with both countries having recently expelled their high commissioners. Also, on October 14, the Canadian police officers claimed at a news conference that they had clear evidence tying Indian officials to the violent crimes.  

Interestingly, the Canadian officers released no details to back their claim. They argued that they needed to protect open investigations and court proceedings. They even declined answers to questions about when the alleged crimes with India link took place.  

During their interaction with the media, the police officers never acknowledged that Khalistani separatist Gill’s killing in Winnipeg was connected to India.  

India has denied all charges levelled by Trudeau and subsequently by the Canadian police, calling their claims as “preposterous” and linked the allegations to the Canada prime minister’s dwindling political fortunes as he depended on a Khalistani-sympathiser leader to enjoy a majority in the country’s parliament.  

At the same time, Trudeau’s silence in public on China’s alleged role in Canadian elections that he has won. In his testimony at the public inquiry, Trudeau, instead, attacked The Globe And Mail for publishing national security leaks on Chinese interference activities. Trudeau called the paper reports, published in 2023, “criminal leaks of classified information [that] can be damaging to reputations, to people’s confidence in our institutions and in our intelligence agencies”.

On its part, China has denied allegations of interference in Canadian elections. Trudeau played down allegations against Chinese state actors saying that this is what diplomats do in any country.