Category: Canada

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More Canadians barred from entering Russia

A total of 818 Canadians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have been under Moscow’s sanctions…reports Asian Lite News

The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that an additional 55 Canadian citizens have been indefinitely barred from entering the country in response to Ottawa’s anti-Russian sanctions.

In addition to the travel ban on these “high-ranking military, politicians and public figures,” the activities of three non-governmental organisations from Canada are now recognised as undesirable in Russia, the Ministry said on Wednesday.

A total of 818 Canadians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have been under Moscow’s sanctions, including an entry ban, official data showed as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

EU to suspend visa deal

Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) member states have agreed to suspend a visa agreement with Moscow, making it harder for Russian citizens to obtain entry to the bloc.

“We agree today with EU foreign ministers on full suspension of the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement,” Xinhua news agency quoted Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, as saying at a press conference after the Ministers’ two-day informal meeting here on Wednesday.

He said that until now, the 2007 agreement that makes it easier for Russian citizens to obtain Schengen visas, was “partially suspended” for special collectives and groups of Russians, officials and entrepreneurs, but now it is “fully suspended”.

“It means that it will significantly reduce the number of new visas issued by the EU member states,” Borrell said, adding that the process to get a visa is going to be “longer and more difficult.”

As the situation in the EU countries bordering Russia is becoming “challenging”, the top diplomat said these member states can take national measures to restrict EU entry through their borders.

This comes as Ukraine and some member states had called for a blanket ban, but others like France and Germany were opposed to the step, the BBC reported.

More than a million Russian citizens have travelled to the EU since Moscow began its ongoing invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The five EU countries bordering Russia — Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — said in a joint statement that they could also introduce temporary bans or restrictions “in order to address imminent public security issues”.

Responding to the bloc’s decision, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Glushko said the EU was “shooting itself in the foot” and the move would not go unanswered.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also criticised the decision as a “half-measure”.

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Canada’s population may double by 2068

In one medium-growth scenario, Canada’s population would reach 47.8 million in 2043 and 56.5 million in 2068…reports Asian Lite News

Canada’s population may nearly double to reach up to 74 million in 2068, according to the national statistical agency.

Statistics Canada announced on Monday that the country’s population may increase from 38.2 million in 2021 to between 42.9 million and 52.5 million in 2043, and between 44.9 million and 74 million in 2068, reports Xinhua news agency.

In one medium-growth scenario, Canada’s population would reach 47.8 million in 2043 and 56.5 million in 2068, it added.

Immigration is expected to remain the main driver of population growth and the natural growth is to decrease in the coming years, Statistics Canada said.

It added that in 2020, the number of children per woman reached a historically low level in the country at 1.4.

This natural growth is likely to even become negative in the brief period between 2049 and 2058, according to the projection.

Canada’s population will continue to age in the coming decades.

Thus, in a medium-growth projection scenario, the average age in Canada increases from 41.7 years in 2021 to 44.1 in 2043 and to 45.1 in 2068.

The population aged 85 and older may more than triple over the same period, from 871,000 in 2021 to 3.2 million in 2068, Statistics Canada said.

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Canada

Canadian Cardinal Quellet accused of sexual assault

An anonymous complainant alleges Ouellet inappropriately touched her, including by rubbing her shoulders and back, and made comments that made her feel uncomfortable…reports Asian Lite News

Vatican Cardinal Marc Ouellet, once considered a front runner to become Pope accused in a court document in Canada made public on Tuesday as part of a class action lawsuit against the Quebec Catholic diocese alleging sexual assault.

According to NDTV reports, the lawsuit represents more than 100 people, including minors, accused sexual assault by 88 priests and staff working at the Quebec diocese starting in 1940.

An anonymous complainant alleges Ouellet inappropriately touched her, including by rubbing her shoulders and back, and made comments that made her feel uncomfortable, NDTV quoted report as saying.

The document states the abuses took place between 2008 and 2010 when Ouellet was archbishop of Quebec and head of the diocese and she was working as a 23-year-old intern. Ouellet faces no criminal charges.

A Vatican spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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India seeks extradition of Khalistani Hardeep Nijjar from Canada

unjab police seeks extradition of Canada-based Khalistani Hardeep Nijjar.(photo:IN)

Nijjar was declared a designated terrorist along with 8 others by India on July 1, 2020, a report by Rajinder S. Taggar

The Punjab police have sought the extradition of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) settled in Canada, who is wanted in cases related to acts of reviving terrorism in the state.

A senior officer disclosed that the demand seeking Nijjar’s extradition is in pursuance of a lookout circular (LOC) issued on January 23, 2015, and a red corner notice issued on March 14, 2016, based where he is accused of terrorist activities. Nijjar was declared a designated terrorist along with 8 others by India on July 1, 2020. A reward of Rs 10 lakh was declared on his head in July this year.

A dossier prepared by the Punjab police reveals that Nijjar was a close associate of Jagtar Singh Tara earlier based in Pakistan in 2012. He visited Pakistan in April 2012 to meet Tara.

Nijjar raised a KTF module in Punjab by motivating Parminder Kala, a resident of Mughal Majri in Ropar district for targeting Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarawala and Sanjeev Ghanouli, a Shiv Sena leader, for their alleged anti-panthic activities.

In December 2015, Nijjar reportedly organised an arms training camp in Mission Hills, BC, Canada wherein Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal originally a resident of Chak Kalan in the Ludhiana district, and 3 other youths were imparted training to use AK-47 assault rifles, sniper rifles, and pistols. Mandeep was sent to Punjab in January 2016 to carry out targeted killings but he was arrested in June before he could execute the plan.

This correspondent in a WhatsApp message to Nijjar sought to know his side of the story but he did not reply. He also declined a WhatsApp call.

In an interview with Vancouver-based journalist Kuldeep Mann aired last week by TV Punjab, Nijjar had denied allegations about his involvement in terrorist activities. “I have been in Canada for over 30 years. I am a sewadar of a gurdwara in Vancouver. I am being wrongly targeted,” he claimed.

According to the police dossier, in 2020, Nijjar in association with gangster Arshdeep Singh Dala of Moga (now hiding in Canada) raised a four-member KTF module in Punjab. The module succeeded in killing Manohar Lal, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower in Bhagta Baika in Bathinda district on November 20, 2020. Besides, they killed Shakti Singh, a resident of village Dagu Romana in Faridkot district, in July 2021, and Tejinder Pinka, owner of Sunshine Cloth Store in Moga on July 14, 2021. Three module members were arrested with arms which included three .32 bore pistols and one .315 bore pistol with 53 cartridges.

In September 2021, Nijjar sent a weapon consignment comprising 2 tiffin bombs, 2 hand grenades, and 3 pistols of .9 mm from across the border. But the Punjab police busted the three-member module comprising Kanwarpal Singh, Kulwinder Singh, and Kamalpreet Singh, all residents of Moga who were to retrieve the weapons.

Another 3-member module working for Nijjar was busted by the Haryana police on February 19, 2022, who were involved in contract killings in Punjab. They had killed sarpanch Avtar Singh of village Udhampur in Ropar district. An AK-47 rifle with 49 cartridges and 3 US-made pistols were recovered from them.

In a separate dossier prepared by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Nijjar’s anti-India activities in Canada have been highlighted. He is suspected to be behind the killing of a Sikh leader Ripudaman Singh Mallik in Surrey on July 14, this year.

Mallik while talking to journalist Sameer Kaushal of Sher-E-Punjab radio, Vancouver, a few days before his murder termed Nijjar and his accomplice, Moninder Boyle, as being anti-Akal Takht sahib. “The control of Gurdwaras in Canada has now gone into the hands of those who are undisciplined and do not care for Sikh Maryada. They recognised Jagtar Hawara, convicted for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995 as the Jathedar of Akal Takht,” he lamented.

The NIA dossier maintains that to reach the truth of Ripudaman’s murder, the Canadian police need to thoroughly interrogate Nijjar and his accomplices. The arrest of two suspects, Tanner Fox, 21, and Jose Lopez, 23, does not explain the motive behind the crime.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Canada fast becoming safe haven for Khalistani terrorists

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Canada teams up with UK to train Ukrainian recruits

Since the start of the operation, the CAF has trained over 33,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel in battlefield tactics and advanced military skills….reports Asian Lite News

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand announced that her country has authorised the deployment of up to 225 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel to train new Ukrainian recruits.

Under Operation UNIFIER, Canada’s military training and capacity building mission in Ukraine, the CAF will deploy personnel to the UK, the Minister said in a statement,.

She added that the majority of them will work as trainers, for an initial deployment of approximately four months, reports Xinhua news agency.

The first of up to three training cohorts, consisting of approximately 90 soldiers, are scheduled to depart on August 12 and will begin leading courses in the following weeks, Anand said.

The first Canadian-led courses will take place at a military base located in South East England, and will teach a flexible curriculum focused on individual skills required for frontline combat, including weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics and the Law of Armed Conflict, according to the statement.

Operation UNIFIER was launched in 2015 at the request of the Ukrainian government, and early this year, was expanded and extended until March 2025.

Since the start of the operation, the CAF has trained over 33,000 Ukrainian military and security personnel in battlefield tactics and advanced military skills.

ALSO READ: Canada reports 890 monkeypox cases

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Canada reports 890 monkeypox cases

Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory is performing diagnostic testing for the virus that causes monkeypox…reports Asian Lite News

The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed 890 cases of monkeypox in the country.

The health agency said that of the confirmed cases as of Wednesday, 423 cases are from Ontario, 373 from Quebec, 78 from British Columbia, 13 from Alberta, two from Saskatchewan and one from the Yukon, Xinhua news agency reported.

Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory is performing diagnostic testing for the virus that causes monkeypox. In addition, the laboratory is conducting whole genome sequencing, an enhanced fingerprint analysis, on Canadian samples of monkeypox.

The Canadian government has deployed over 70,000 doses of Imvamune vaccines and continues to work actively with jurisdictions to manage public health responses.



The World Health Organization has declared the current outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Experts say monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from person to person through close contact with an infected person, including through hugs, kisses, massages or sexual intercourse.

ALSO READ: Canada fast becoming safe haven for Khalistani terrorists

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2 detained for killing Ripudaman Singh Malik

Police have not yet confirmed whether the two men were hired to kill Malik…reports Asian Lite News

Two hitmen have been charged with the killing of one-time Air India bombing suspect Ripudaman Singh Malik who was gunned down in Surrey near here on July 14.

The alleged killers Tanner Fox, 21, and Jose Lopez, 23, were arrested by The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team on the basis of tips from the public.

Police have not yet confirmed whether the two men were hired to kill Malik.

Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, who heads the investigation team, told the media: “We’re in the infancy of this investigation as it’s only 13 days old. So there’s many follow-up tasks.”

About the hitmen’s motive, he said: “I think that’s going to be part of our ongoing tasks here. It’s very difficult 13 days in as these investigation sometimes takes years to develop – and that’s why in these initial stages, the swift reaction of all of our teams coming together was amazing work to identify these individuals, and charge them.”

Police said both the suspects have a criminal past. They were on bail in other criminal cases at the time of their arrest.

While one suspect was charged with nine gun-related criminal counts last year, the other faced gun charges.

Malik was gunned down when he reached his business office in Surrey in the morning. The hitmen burnt the stolen vehicle, a white Honda CRV, used in the crime just a few blocks away.

Public tips about the vehicle being seen near a business complex about 80 minutes before the killing, helped police nab the alleged hitmen.

Malik, along with Ajaib Singh Bagri, was an accused in the bombing of Air Indian Kanishka flight 182 in June 1985 off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people on board. The bombing was carried out by Sikh radicals to take revenge for the army action at the Golden Temple in June 1984 to flush out Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his supporters.

The two were acquitted in 2005.

Malik visited India after the Indian government in 2019 deleted black lists of pro-Khalistan radicals living abroad.

In January this year, Malik wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanking him for his pro-Sikh actions.

It is speculated that Malik’s letter to Modi angered Sikh radicals and that’s why he was targeted.

Malik was also targeted by hardliners when he printed the Sikh holy scripture at his printing press in Surrey.

ALSO READ: Canada fast becoming safe haven for Khalistani terrorists

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Canada fast becoming safe haven for Khalistani terrorists

The source also said that India has submitted documents to Canada regarding the presence of the Khalistani elements and other gangsters there, but no action has been taken so far…reports Asian Lite News

Canada is fast becoming a safe haven for Khalistani terrorists and gangsters, who are involved in a number of criminal activities in India, including murders, sources in the intelligence agencies said.

The May 29 Sidhu Moosewala murder has again highlighted this, as sources in the intelligence agencies and police said that Canada-based gangsters are “controlling crime in India”.

“Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar’s name cropped up during the investigation into the Moosewala case. But bringing him back to India is not easy, as the Canadian authorities don’t cooperate,” a source said.

The source also said that India has submitted documents to Canada regarding the presence of the Khalistani elements and other gangsters there, but no action has been taken so far.



Recently, the NIA declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh on Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in connection with the murder of a Hindu priest in Jalandhar.

Nijjar is presently residing in Canada and is promoting the secessionist and violent agenda of ‘Sikhs for Justice’ (SFJ) in India.

Recently, Interpol issued a red corner notice against Khalistani operative Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh, who is also said to be in Canada and connected to Nijjar.

These Khalistani terrorists allegedly gave contracts for killing several persons to disrupt communal harmony in India. They also promised Canadian citizenship to their aides in India.

While the Indian authorities have spoken to their Canadian counterparts, no progress has been made so far when it comes to their extradition to India.

Another Canada-based Khalistani terrorist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who runs the ‘Sikhs for Justice’ movement, aims to spread terrorism in India. During the farmers’ agitation, he released a number of videos asking people to attack government buildings, including the Red Fort.

“They know they are safe in Canada and hence they openly plot terror activities from there,” the source said.

ALSO READ: Two Indian-origin men gunned down in Canada

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Two Indian-origin men gunned down in Canada

The two latest victims were shot in broad daylight while sitting in a car in a public place like Ripudaman Malik and as in that incident, a car was also found burning nearby…reports Asian Lite News

Two Indian-origin men have been shot dead in Canada, 10 days after an eerily similar killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, who had been acquitted of charges of bombing an Air India plane, according to media reports.

Meninder Dhaliwal and Satindera Gill were killed on Sunday at the British Columbia resort village of Whistler.

The two latest victims were shot in broad daylight while sitting in a car in a public place like Ripudaman Malik and as in that incident, a car was also found burning nearby, according to media reports.

The two incidents, however, have not been linked by officials.

Two persons who have not been publicly identified have been arrested in connection with the latest killings, CTV reported quoting officials.

But there have been no arrests as yet in the killing of Malik.

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Dhaliwal, along with his brother Barinder, was on a list of six men, four of them of Indian descent, released last year by the Vancouver Police Department which called them “gangsters” who “pose a significant risk to the safety of the public”.

Police Chief Adam Palmer warned while releasing their pictures, “Our police intelligence leads us to believe that the individuals we have identified today may be targeted by rival gang members”.

Dhaliwal was a member of a gang known as “Brothers Keeper” (BK), while Gill was not known to be involved with gangs, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Dhaliwal’s brother was killed last year in April, the newspaper’s website said.

CTV said that the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) confirmed Dhaliwal and Gill had been targeted and the shooting was linked to an ongoing gang conflict in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland region that includes Vancouver.

The Sun said that the BK has been involved in violent conflicts over the years with the gang known as “United Nations” and with some members of “Red Scorpions”.

It said that last year Dhaliwal’s brother Harb was killed outside a Vancouver restaurant when he was with him and Barinder.

Meninder chased the gunman, Francoise Gauthier, and stabbed him in the eye, but did not face charges, it added.

Gauthier admitted last month in a Canadian court to carrying out the murder and was sentenced to life in prison, the Sun reported.

It said that both Meninder and Barinder had been shot several times in the past.

Ripudaman Singh was acquitted on charges linked to the bombing of Air India’s Kanishka that killed all on board the Boeing 747 on a flight from Canada to India in 1985.

Once a supporter of the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement, he later made peace with the Indian government, writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year: “I am writing you this to express my deep heartfelt gratitude for the unprecedented positive steps taken by yourself to redress long-reading Sikh demands and grievances.”

He was taken off the Indian government’s blacklist and granted a visa to visit India in 2019.

ALSO READ: 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing suspect shot dead in Canada

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Pope Francis in Canada for ‘apology tour’

The Vatican has called the trip a “penitential pilgrimage,” and the Pope will be welcomed in Edmonton on Sunday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada…reports Asian Lite News

Pope Francis will be visiting Canada to apologize for Indigenous abuse in Catholic residential schools.

He departed from Rome on Sunday for a week-long trip to Edmonton, Canada, where he’s set to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the abuse of Canadian Indigenous children, reported CNN.

The Vatican has called the trip a “penitential pilgrimage,” and the Pope will be welcomed in Edmonton on Sunday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada.

He will meet with Indigenous groups and address the scandal of abuse and erasure of indigenous culture in the country’s residential schools, reported CNN.

Indigenous leaders have long called for a papal apology for the harm inflicted for decades on Indigenous children.

Last year, hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, reported CNN.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has reported that more than 4,000 Indigenous children died either from neglect or abuse in residential schools, many of which were run by the Catholic Church.

In April, the Pope told Indigenous leaders at the Vatican that he feels “sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values.”

The Pope will also travel to Quebec and Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, during the trip. Two Canadian cardinals will accompany him throughout his visit, Cardinal Marc Ouellet and Cardinal Michael Czerny, reported CNN.

Francis, earlier trip to Africa was cancelled this month due to issues with his knee which had stirred speculation about his retirement.

He said in an interview with UK media that he still intends to visit Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but he has received criticism for prioritizing that destination over visiting Ukraine, and for partially blaming NATO for Russia’s invasion.

“I would like to go, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine. The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help, but I would like to go to both capitals,” Francis said.

In a June interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, Francis said the war “was perhaps in some way either provoked or not prevented,” reported CNN.

Pope Francis said that before Russia invaded Ukraine he met with “a head of state” who “was very worried about how NATO was moving.”

Pope Francis’ Canada visit – which he has called a “penitential pilgrimage” of “healing and reconciliation” – is primarily to apologise to survivors for the Church’s role in the scandal that a national truth and reconciliation commission has called “cultural genocide”.

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada’s government sent about 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children into 139 residential schools run by the Church, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture. Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers.

Thousands of children are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.

Since May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of the former schools.

In the community of Maskwacis, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Edmonton, the pope will address an estimated crowd of 15,000 expected to include former students from across the country.

Others see the pope’s visit as too little too late, including Linda McGilvery with the Saddle Lake Cree Nation near Saint Paul, about 200 kilometres east of Edmonton.

After a mass before tens of thousands of faithful in Edmonton on July 26, the pope will head northwest to an important pilgrimage site, the Lac Sainte Anne.

Following a visit to Quebec City from July 27-29, he will end his trip in Iqaluit, home to the largest Inuit population in Canada, where he will meet with former residential school students, before returning to Italy.

Pope Francis is the second pope to visit Canada, after John Paul II, who visited three times (1984, 1987 and 2002).

Some 44% of Canada’s population is Catholic.

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