NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh steps off campaign plane as member of his RCMP security detail stands by in Winnipeg, April 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck.
Indian agent had Jagmeet Singh under close surveillance
A suspected Indian government agent had Jagmeet Singh under close surveillance, prompting the RCMP to place the New Democratic Party leader in police protection 18 months ago, sources have told Global News.
The agent, who is allegedly tied to activities directed by the Indian government, had access to intimate knowledge of Singh’s daily routines, travel and family, according to the sources familiar with the matter.
He was also described by the sources as associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which the Indian government has been accused of using to commit violence in Canada.
Police notified Singh about a credible risk to his life in late 2023 and put tight security around him and his homes. Singh revealed during the 2025 federal election that he had been under police protection.
But no details of the investigation have been publicly disclosed until now, and Singh has said the RCMP never told him who was behind the threat, although “the implication was a foreign government.”
Police responded to the threat at the time and Singh is no longer considered to be in imminent danger. Singh lost his seat in the 2025 federal election and has stepped down as NDP leader.
The allegation that a suspected Indian agent was gathering information about the day-to-day movements of a federal party leader will likely raise new questions about foreign interference.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh steps off campaign plane as member of his RCMP security detail stands by in Winnipeg, April 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck.
Singh did not respond to requests for comment through an intermediary. Global News is not identifying the multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on condition they would not be named.
The Indian High Commission in Ottawa has not responded to questions about the allegations. The RCMP said it does not discuss “protective measures, nor confirm individuals who may be designated to receive protection.”
“The security environment in which public figures operate is constantly evolving, and the RCMP takes all threats against public officials seriously,” spokesperson Marie-Eve Breton said on Wednesday.
The reasons police became concerned about Singh’s safety a year-and-a-half ago have emerged as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Canada on the weekend.
With President Donald Trump in the White House, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants to diversify Canada’s trading relationships and has invited Modi to the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
But the decision has faced criticism because New Delhi is still not cooperating with RCMP investigations into India’s suspected involvement in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, among other violent crimes.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme held a news conference last October to announce that investigators had found evidence linking “agents of the government of India to homicides and violent acts” across the country.
Police said India was collecting information on potential victims in Canada and using the Lawrence Bishnoi crime group, and similar drug and extortion outfits, to target them.
They also said “well over a dozen credible and imminent threats to life” had led them to issue warnings to members of the South Asian community, specifically those active in the pro-Khalistan movement.
Singh told reporters in April that police had advised him in the winter of 2023 that his life could be in danger. They did not tell him who was behind the threat but he said the implication was that it was a foreign government.
He said he stayed in his basement, avoided windows and considered quitting politics over fears about his family’s safety. He decided to carry on but was forced to lead the NDP for a period under police protection.
A lawyer who became federal NDP leader in 2017, Singh has angered India by pressing the Canadian government to take a harder line against Modi’s government over its problematic human rights record.
Indian press reports have wrongly labelled Singh a supporter of anti-India “terrorists” and reported that the intelligence agency that works for Modi’s office had prepared dossiers on him.
Under Modi, New Delhi has amped up its claims that Canada has not done enough to counter the Khalistan movement that seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab.
It has also meddled in all levels of Canadian politics and now ranks as the “second most active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada,” according to the Hogue Commission.
With the murder of Nijjar, however, India has allegedly taken its grievances against Canada to another level. A Sikh temple leader, Nijjar was leading a referendum campaign on Khalistan independence when he was gunned down.
Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons in September 2023 that investigators were probing the involvement of Indian government agents.
Police believe India used gang members to carry out the killing. Sources have told Global News that Modi’s right-hand man Amit Shah allegedly approved the operation. India has denied that.
Canada later expelled six Indian diplomats and consular officials for allegedly collecting information on Canadians of Indian descent that was fed back to intelligence officers in New Delhi and used to direct attacks.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at campaign rally in Winnipeg, April 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck.
The alleged surveillance of Singh is not unprecedented. Before Nijjar was killed, he told a close friend that a tracking device had been found on his pickup truck when he was having it serviced.
“He told me this personally,” said Moninder Singh, the spokesperson for the Sikh Federation who is also among those police have warned about threats to their lives.
Nijjar was shot dead inside the same vehicle outside Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Temple. Moninder Singh said he did not know whether agents had followed him too.
“I’ve had multiple warnings but have never been told or known if I was under surveillance, but I would think I would be and do live my life as though I am,” he said.
“There’s no other way.”
As someone living under threat, he said Modi’s visit to Canada had added “insult to injury.”
After Modi said he would attend the G7, Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal said his constituents had told him that inviting the Indian prime minster was sending the wrong message.
Carney has said that Modi agreed to “continued law enforcement dialogue and discussions addressing security concerns” and that countering foreign interference was high on the summit agenda.
But a Canadian Sikh coalition wrote to MPs this week to voice their “anger and sense of betrayal” over Carney’s decision to extend an invitation to the leader of a government that has not yet been held to account for Nijjar’s killing.
“His death was not an isolated act but part of a coordinated campaign of transnational repression that continues to violate Canadian sovereignty to this day,” the four Sikh organizations wrote.
“To extend an invitation to the architect of these policies who proudly boasts that India ‘enters the homes of its enemies and kills them,’ without any public commitment to justice or accountability, undermines the very principles Canada claims to uphold.”
The letter was signed by the leaders of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, Sikh Federation of B.C., Ontario Gurdwara’s Committee and Quebec Sikh Council. The groups are holding a news conference on Parliament Hill on Thursday.
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A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.
The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.
New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.
Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.
Montreal finished second in the category.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”
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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.
In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.
“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”
Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.
In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.
Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.
Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”
To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.
Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.
Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.
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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.
Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.
A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.
Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.
At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.
“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
Provided
Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.
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By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.
“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.
After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.
“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.
Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.
“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.
The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.
“I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.
“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.
“I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”
In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.
Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.
Provided
Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.
“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.
“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”
She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.
“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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