BUCHOLTZ: Why Surrey residents are upset about Carney’s trip to India
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to India last week has become quite controversial in many quarters – nowhere more so than in the Sikh community in Surrey, Delta and other parts of the Lower Mainland.
Many South Asians (and many other people) had significant concerns when the trip was announced, given numerous difficulties between Canada and India over the past few years. However, comments from an unidentified senior government official just before Carney left for India on Feb. 26 really stirred the pot.
At least two Liberal MPs, Sukh Dhaliwal from Surrey-Newton and Ruby Sahota from Brampton North-Caledon, condemned the official’s claims that India no longer meddles in Canada’s domestic affairs, and no longer orchestrates violence and intimidation against Canadian citizens.
This a complete turnabout from earlier comments from federal officials, from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on down. They pointed at the Indian government for involvement in a campaign of violence which culminated in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Surrey on June 18, 2023.
That led to a lengthy deep freeze in Canada-India relations, and withdrawal of diplomats from both countries. Carney began to thaw the relationship when he invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 meeting in Alberta last year.
Dhaliwal said that a “formal review is necessary” of the official’s claims that all is well. “This view is disconnected from the reality confronting members of the Sikh community across Canada and contradicts assessments by national security and law-enforcement agencies.”
Sahota, whose riding includes a large South Asian population in suburban Toronto, said “any suggestion that these threats have been resolved does not reflect the current security reality facing Canada.”
Neither Carney nor Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand have walked back the official’s comments. Instead, Anand said no country gets a free pass to interfere in Canadian affairs. Carney said in Mumbai that Canada can still work with other countries, even when there is sometimes disagreement.
A public inquiry on foreign interference in Canadian elections last year concluded that India is the second-most active country involved in such interference, after China. It is noteworthy that Carney has already made a trade-related trip to China and concluded several deals, which allow more Chinese imports into Canada and reductions in tariffs against some Canadian goods.
There is no question that Carney’s trip to India is also all about boosting trade, something most Canadians would endorse. Looking for more markets when the Canadian economy is struggling, and trade ties with the U.S. are under threat, makes abundant sense. However, the Carney government needs to remember a few things. The prime minister was just in Surrey a few weeks ago to hear firsthand about the extortion threats against South Asians here, and in other parts of Canada. Most of these threats are being orchestrated from India.
Has he forgotten this in his desire to boost trade? He also needs to remember that Modi heads a Hindu nationalist party, which has embarked on various forms of discrimination against Indians of other faiths.
The murder of Nijjar and other threats against the Sikhs who campaign in Canada for Punjabi independence remain an extremely sore point for many South Asians in Surrey, where the Liberals currently hold four of the six seats. Delta, where many South Asians live, is also held by a Liberal MP.
Frank Bucholtz writes twice monthly on political issues for Black Press Media publications.