‘There’s no protection’: Canadian Sikh leaders face threats, organization says

Sikh leaders have been warned by the RCMP that they face potential imminent threats. However, a Sikh organzation says those leaders are receiving almost no support from police.

The World Sikh Organization says multiple Sikh leaders in Canada have received notice from the RCMP that their lives could be in imminent danger.

But WSO spokesperson Balpreet Singh told The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson that the national police force shared few details about who was behind the threats — and little in terms of protection or assistance.

“What happens is that you’re approached by law enforcement and they give you a piece of paper that says that your life is in imminent risk of being targeted, that you could be killed,” Singh said in an interview.

“They take that paper back and then they ask you, ‘Well, where do you think this threat is coming from?’ And it’s really surreal to think that the police have approached you, and now they’re asking you, ‘Where do you think the threat is coming from?’ You’re not provided any real supports.”

Singh said some were told to change their routines and think about spending time away from their families and friends, but were otherwise “left to (their) own devices.”

“It’s really an odd situation where you just don’t know where to go. And, you know, people that have had to leave their homes, have to leave their families. And there’s no end to it,” Singh said.

“Someone approached the police six months after receiving one of these (warnings) and was told, well, there’s no foreseeable end because this is a decades-long conflict. So we don’t know when this threat will end.”

Global News reported earlier this month the RCMP put former NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh under tight security in late 2023 after the national police force assessed the then-NDP leader’s life was in imminent danger.