liberals-malign-poilievre-over-india-s-support

Recently a leading Canadian English daily, ‘The Globe and Mail’ claimed that India had interfered in the elections of Pierre Poilievre as the leader of the Canadian Conservative Party in the year 2022. Poilievre had won the leadership battle with 68 per cent votes. 

The newspaper, quoting an anonymous Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) source, had at the same time added that there was no evidence suggesting that Poilievre knew about the government of India having positively influenced his election as the Conservative leader. It alleged that the Indian government’s proxies including Canadians were used to influence the election.

Poilievre has rejected all such allegations, saying he won the election fair and square without anybody’s interference. “Let’s be honest, I won the leadership fair and square”, he said during an interaction with the media. He alleged that the ‘Globe and Mail’ report was part of the Liberal campaign to malign and discredit him.

 

Also read: Canada warns of election interference by India

Not long ago, the same newspaper, the ‘Globe and Mail’ reported in November last that the Canadian security agencies “believed” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval knew about the plot to kill the Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjer on Canadian soil.

The Canadian government immediately came out with a categorical denial saying that “the Government of Canada has not stated, nor it is aware of evidence, linking Prime Minister Modi, Minister Jaishankar, or NSA Doval to the serious criminal activity within Canada. Any suggestion to the contrary is both speculative and inaccurate”.  

While the Liberal government headed by Justin Trudeau did come out with an official denial, about what the ‘Globe and Mail’ had alleged, quoting the government sources, it was not lost on anyone as to who had planted the story in the newspaper. The Liberal government, the then Prime Minister Trudeau in particular, have always remained hostile towards India, because of the obvious influence of some pro-Khalistani Indian origin leaders in the Liberal Party.

Even now, most of the Liberal Party leadership remains hostile towards India. While the newly elected leader and the Prime Minister Mark Carney has expressed his wish to have an improved relationship with India, it is not certain how far he can go, given the strong and deep penetration of anti-India elements within the party. The Liberal Party has traditionally remained hostile towards India for a long time. In 1982, Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau as the Prime Minister refused to deport some militants to India who had taken shelter there after committing various crimes in Punjab.

The Liberal Party in Canada, right now, is on defensive. It continues to trail behind the Conservative Party, despite the nationwide sentiment against the United States after President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods. Conservative Party is seen to be more close to the Republicans in the US. This has led to the substantial lead it had prior to Trump’s presidency, declining considerably. But it still remains ahead of others including the Liberal Party.

Given the “nationalistic fervour” prevailing across Canada, the CSIS deliberate “leak” about the foreign, particularly the Indian, interference, is not incidental.

 

The “leak” almost coincided with the announcement of the General Elections, scheduled on April 28, with the Conservatives having an edge in the elections. 

As long as the Liberal Party remains in power, it will have control over the CSIS. There is nothing surprising about the Liberal government using the “anonymous” CSIS sources to suggest that the Conservative Party leader Poilievre, the prospective Prime Minister of Canada was getting “foreign support” in the elections. Nothing can be more damaging for a leader than taking the foreign support, and that too when the country has been swept by the nationalist sentiment in the aftermath of “Trump tariffs”.

With so many people in the Liberal Party having Indian roots, they have complete knowledge as to how the Indian diaspora feels and votes. The diaspora is strongly politically opinionated, which is obvious from the participation of its members in the political process. Most of the diaspora members are with the Liberal Party and some with the New Democratic Party (NDP), which is headed by an Indian origin leader Jagmeet Singh. 

The diaspora is also divided within, particularly with one section openly identifying with the pro-Khalistani elements in the Liberal Party. Besides, Trudeau’s open support to such elements has alienated and antagonised a large section of the diaspora, which had otherwise traditionally been the supporter of the Liberal Party. 

This section has now moved towards the Conservative Party, which is seen as pro-India in comparison to the Liberal Party and the NDP. The easiest allegation to level against the Conservative Party at this stage is to accuse it of taking the “foreign” support, which its leader has rightly and duly denied. 

While there is undoubtedly no question of the government of India trying to influence any election in any foreign country at any cost, there is a lot of interest in India about the turn the Canadian politics takes. This has a lot to do with the blatantly hostile posturing by Trudeau, including the allegations that the Indian government was behind the murder of Hardeep Nijjer. Even till now the Canadian government has not furnished any evidence to substantiate its charges. His successor Carney has taken a balanced stand so far. 

At the same time it is also true that most of the Indians under current circumstances would always prefer a Conservative government over a Liberal one, given the latter’s consistent anti-India posturing for a long time. Reading that sentiment, the elements in the Liberal government and the deep state, tried to put the Conservative Party and its leader on the defensive. 

With such allegations leveled against him suggesting that his election as the Conservative Party was “facilitated” by India, he will be a lot more guarded and cautious in seeking the support from the Indian diaspora proactively and promising them anything special or extra, lest his opponents claim that they stand vindicated about his “special ties” with India and its role in elevating him as the leader of the Conservative Party. 

In any case India, unlike China, is not an anathema to most of the Canadians that any association with it will cost an election to anyone.