A photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadian intelligence services are investigating "credible" information about "a potential link" between the government of India and the murder of Nijjar. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VICTORIA – British Columbia Premier David Eby says he’s received a briefing from Canada’s spy agency about the “assassination” of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and he’s “deeply disturbed” by what he was told.
He says he’s calling on the federal government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and “transnational organized crime threats.”
Monday’s briefing came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament there was “credible” evidence linking the government of India to the June killing at a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C.
Eby says Canadians must be safe from foreign government interference, including the threat of violence and murder.
He says he needs more information from the federal government so the province can better protect people at risk.
Nijjar was shot dead as he sat in his pickup truck in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdawra on June 18, in what police say was a targeted attack involving two gunmen and a getaway driver.
“I join with those in the Sikh and Punjabi community, and the broader province, demanding justice and answers,” Eby says in a statement.
Investigators said in June they had not linked the shooting to foreign interference and there were no reasons to believe the Sikh community in Canada was at risk.
Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state at the time of this death.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2023.
