OTTAWA \u2014 The federal government is bringing law enforcement and financial institutions together to fight extortion operations targeting Canadian businesses and households.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne was in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday to announce a suite of new initiatives he said will make it easier for police to \u201cfollow the money\u201d and disrupt criminal networks.<\/p>\n
Champagne said organized crime is making Canadians anxious in their own neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too many people, extortion is not an abstract concept anymore,\u201d he said at a press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a threat that is sent through their phone. It is the business owner deciding whether it is safe to open. It is families feeling unsafe in their home communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government says Canada\u2019s financial intelligence agency Fintrac will put new resources behind tackling extortion. As part of that effort, Fintrac agents will also embed with local law enforcement on the ground to help quickly trace reports of extortion.<\/p>\n
Fintrac will also share data with financial institutions to help them flag suspicious transactions.<\/p>\n
Champagne said the federal government\u2019s approach of striking a partnership between private sector financial instructions and law enforcement mirrors Ottawa\u2019s model for tackling fentanyl trafficking in recent years.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday meeting with members of the RCMP. He did not take questions from reporters at the event.<\/p>\n
Carney said he was there to take stock of efforts to address \u201cthe scourge of extortion\u201d in British Columbia\u2019s Lower Mainland and other parts of the country.<\/p>\n
The prime minister touted the Liberal government\u2019s efforts to tighten bail and sentencing laws under Bill C-14.<\/p>\n
He also mentioned the Liberals\u2019 proposed border legislation, Bill C-2, which includes measures to make it easier for law enforcement to obtain a warrant to get access to electronic messages \u2014 a proposal that alarms civil liberties groups.<\/p>\n
Carney said those powers are particularly relevant to crimes like extortion, which often involves threats issued via social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to give the police, the prosecutors, lawful access to those messages so they can prosecute. And that\u2019s a job for Parliament, and we need to move on that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Champagne was asked in Mississauga whether any new money was being committed in Thursday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer directly and said he couldn\u2019t share operational details without the risk of tipping law enforcement\u2019s hand. But he didn\u2019t rule out additional spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message to Fintrac is, if any additional resources are needed, we\u2019ll be there,\u201d Champagne said.<\/p>\n
The finance minister also pointed to the $1.7 billion earmarked in the last budget to support federal law enforcement\u2019s efforts to target transnational organized crime, money laundering and financial crimes. The RCMP plans to hire 1,000 new personnel with the money, with 150 of them tasked with pursuing financial crimes.<\/p>\n
The federal Liberals are also planning to table legislation by the spring to set up the Financial Crimes Agency first proposed last fall.<\/p>\n
B.C. MP Frank Caputo, the Conservative party public safety critic, said in a media statement that Thursday\u2019s announcement will do nothing to stop extortion and gang violence.<\/p>\n
He said Fintrac\u2019s job is already to \u201cfollow the money\u201d and claimed the agency has the tools it needs to do that.<\/p>\n
Caputo said Conservatives have instead proposed mandatory jail time for extortion and gun crimes and deportations of non-Canadians who commit acts of violence.<\/p>\n
Non-Canadians found guilty of serious crimes can already be barred from Canada under existing laws.<\/p>\n
The federal government convened a pair of summits in Brampton, Ont., and Surrey earlier this year and in late 2025 to hear about how threats of violence are affecting communities.<\/p>\n
Peel Deputy Police Chief Nick Milinovich told Thursday\u2019s press conference that \u201cextortion is one of the most serious public safety threats that faces not only Peel region, but our country on a national level.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said there were 476 reported incidents of extortion in Peel last year, 190 of which targeted businesses. Of those 190 incidents, 29 led to shootings or arson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not just a statistic. It represents hundreds of people who are living in fear and forced to live with the experiences they\u2019ve had,\u201d Milinovich said.<\/p>\n
Most of the businesses targeted for extortion are in Peel\u2019s South Asian community, Milinovich added. He said tracking the sources of financial crimes leads police to people \u201cresponsible for extortions and a variety of other transnational crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ottawa last year designated the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group. The gang, which RCMP say has targeted Sikh separatist activists in Canada on behalf of the Indian government, has been linked to extortion and other crimes against South Asian communities in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.<\/p>\n
Carney referenced Ottawa\u2019s move to list the gang as a terrorist entity when he spoke to RCMP officers in Surrey on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of our work \u2026 is to improve co-operation amongst law enforcement and security organizations so we get the information from these \u2014 I can put it this way \u2014 host governments of these transnational gangs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Champagne was asked whether Canada will raise extortion by South Asian gangs as an issue during Carney\u2019s upcoming visit to India.<\/p>\n
The minister said \u201cthere\u2019s a lot to be discussed with our Indian partners\u201d but did not say whether extortion and transnational crime would be on the agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transnational nature of these crimes is something that we have been discussing at the G7,\u201d Champagne said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe RCMP and other law enforcement partners have all the relationships with their counterparts and we expect them to continue these relationships so that we can tackle crime in the most effective way.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u2014 with files from Brieanna Charlebois in Surrey<\/p>\n
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 The federal government is bringing law enforcement and financial institutions together to fight extortion operations targeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-491708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}