Spokespersons for the Sikh Federation Canada and the World Sikh Organisation of Canada were on the Hill yesterday to call on prime minister Mark Carney to rescind his invitation to Narendra Modi to attend the G7 summit, and are not ruling out actions such as barring Liberal MPs from visiting Sikh temples as a protest. They warned that more than a dozen Canadian Sikhs are under active threat from India,  and we also learned in the media yesterday that a suspected Indian government agent had Jagmeet Singh under surveillance, which prompted close RCMP protection eighteen months ago.

Oh, but Carney says, we got assurances about cooperating on a law enforcement dialogue, and yes, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme does say that Indian officials are now being cooperative on the investigation into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar where they weren’t before, but again, how much longer is this going to continue until it’s no longer convenient and they start making up a bunch of bullshit for their newspapers again like they did with the supposed cocaine found on Trudeau’s plane (which right-wing newspapers in this Canada breathlessly repeated while the journalists who were actually on the plane repeatedly said that this never happened and that this was a bullshit information operation).

Yes, India is an important economy at a time when we can no longer rely on the Americans, but can we rely on India either given Modi’s increasing authoritarian tendencies, and his violation of human rights for minorities? Those Sikh spokespersons made the salient point about how Carney is sending the message that some lives are worth more than others, and that if there’s economic benefit, then we can turn a blind eye to human rights abuses and the fact that they almost certainly contracted an extrajudicial killing on Canadian soil. That should matter, and we should send a message that it does matter. But we’re not getting that from Carney, and even more to the point, the Liberals have had some very effective Sikh organisers in the party (which is why certain MPs were in Trudeau’s Cabinet when they were poor performers) and it would seem odd to waste that goodwill when you want to try and win a majority in the next election. I’m just not seeing a lot of principle or smart politics here.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian forces are slowly pushing back the Russian incursion in Sumy region. Ukrainian military officials say that the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded in the conflict is now over one million, as the war is now in its third year. There was another exchange of sick and wounded prisoners yesterday. President Zelenskyy will be attending the G7 in Kananaskis next week.

https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1933028255767941303

Good reads:

• Steve MacKinnon put a motion before the House to invoke closure on Bill C-5 to get it passed before the end of next week. (Who cares about the Henry VIII clause?)
• Patty Hajdu relented and will now use her powers to call a vote for Canada Post union members of the Crown corporation’s “final offer.”
• The Government House Leader scrubbed a planned unanimous consent motion to extend honorary citizenship to Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, no reason given.
• Federal civil service unions are starting a new round of contract negotiations, after the last round ended up in a strike.
• So far we are on track to have the second-worst wildfire season on record.
• A new Great Seal of Canada has been unveiled, which features the new heralding Crown of Maples.
• Some Newfoundland and Labrador hydrogen companies are behind on fees for use of Crown lands as the sector is moving slower than anticipated to get established.
• Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner found that Ford’s staff were using code words and private emails to set up the Greenbelt land swap. (Totally normal).
• The Alberta government is considering letting oil sands companies inject toxic tailing water deep underground, because of course they are.
• A BC MLA who got kicked out of the far-right BC Conservative caucus is starting a new party that is even more far-right.
• Paul Wells is skeptical about the return of Michael Sabia, now as the Clerk of the Privy Council, is going to be the shake-up people think he will.
• My Xtra column calls out Senator Miville-Dechêne as a useful idiot for the far right as her age verification bill hands them a weapon to use against queer and trans people.

Odds and ends:

For the evening crowd, my @xtramagazine.com column calling out Senator Miville-Dechêne as a useful idiot of the far right as she hands them new weapons to target queer and trans people #canqueer #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-12T23:37:49.571Z

"Weesa needin this bill to be protectin the children!"

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-12T23:37:49.572Z

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