Foreign governments are using crime groups to go after political opponents in Canada, the country’s intelligence service said in its annual report released Wednesday.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said it had detected “a concerning trend of states leveraging organized crime networks to conduct threat activity.”
Underworld syndicates are being tasked with conducting “transnational repression of legitimate speech in Canada, among other malign activities,” the report said.
It cited the examples of Iran’s intelligence service hiring outlaw biker gang members to conduct a killing, and India’s alleged links to gang violence in Canada.
The report said the RCMP had evidence that linked Indian government agents to “criminal networks to sow violent activity in South Asian communities in Canada.”
The Indian government’s alleged role in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., “signals a significant escalation in India’s repression efforts,” it said.
“Canada must remain vigilant about continued foreign interference conducted by the government of India, not only within ethnic, religious and cultural communities but also in Canada’s political system.”
The report was publicly released the day after the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., wrapped up. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a guest at the event.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to invite Modi was met with anger, even within the Liberal party, because of India’s alleged role in violence in Canada.
The RCMP suspects Indian agents were involved in the June 18, 2023 killing of Nijjar, a B.C. Sikh temple leader and pro-Khalistan activist.
Last October, the RCMP further disclosed that Indian government agents were linked to murders, extortions and other crimes in several provinces.
More than a dozen “credible and imminent threats to life” had prompted police to warn the suspected targets they were in danger, the RCMP said.
Among them was Jagmeet Singh, then the NDP leader. Global News reported last week that a suspected Indian agent had him under close surveillance.
The RCMP believes the intelligence service that reports to Modi’s office has been using the Lawrence Bishnoi crime group to do its dirty work in Canada
On Tuesday, B.C. Premier David Eby called on Carney to add the Bishnoi gang to the government’s list of designated terrorist organizations.
But India has declined to co-operate with RCMP investigations into the incidents. Canadian officials have said Modi’s right-hand man Amit Shah was responsible.
In its annual report to Parliament, CSIS accused India of using “proxy agents” for a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians.”
The goal of these activities is to align Canada with Modi’s interests, particularly on the Khalistan movement, which seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab.
“With the re-election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s political course will be a continuation of a Hindu-nationalist policy agenda that has been implemented since Prime Minister Modi was first elected in 2014,” CSIS wrote.
“Prime Minister Modi and his core ministers and advisers are keen to build India’s global influence and counter any activity they consider as ‘anti-India,’ at home or abroad, in the name of domestic stability and prosperity.”
India is one of the top perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage in Canada, along with China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan, the CSIS report said.
Two Canadians, Damion Ryan and Adam Pearson, were charged last year over an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting two residents of Maryland who had defected from Iran.
The suspects were allegedly directed by Iranian-Turkish narcotics trafficker Naji Sharifi Zindashti, who “led a network of individuals that targeted Iranian dissidents and opposition activists for assassination at the behest of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security,” CSIS said.
“This network has carried out numerous acts of transnational repression including assassinations and kidnappings across multiple jurisdictions in an attempt to silence Iran’s perceived critics.”
“CSIS assesses that Iran will continue to use proxies, such as individuals involved with transnational organized crime networks, when it targets perceived enemies living in foreign countries, including Canada,” the report said.
“Iranian threat-related activities directed at Canada and its allies are likely to continue in 2025, and may increase depending on developments in the Middle East and the Iranian regime’s own threat perceptions.”
On the final day of the Kananaskis summit, G7 leaders said in a statement they were “deeply concerned by growing reports of transnational repression.”
The statement said G7 countries would “redouble our efforts” to fight the “aggressive form of foreign interference” by states and their proxies.
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