Agents of Indian government interfered in Patrick Brown's Conservative leadership campaign: sources
Poilievre's office says it knows nothing about alleged foreign interference
Agents of the Indian government allegedly attempted to derail Patrick Brown's campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2022, according to sources who spoke to Radio-Canada.
Brown's national campaign co-chair, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, allegedly was pressured to withdraw her support for Brown in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race, confidential sources told Radio-Canada.
Rempel Garner categorically denies the allegation.
Radio-Canada has no evidence indicating that Pierre Poilievre, now the Conservative leader, was aware of the alleged actions of India's agents. He handily won the 2022 leadership race on the first ballot with 68 per cent of the available points.
Radio-Canada spoke separately with five people who were closely involved in Brown's leadership campaign. Brown is mayor of Brampton, Ont. and a former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
The sources provided specific examples of what they said was pressure exerted by Indian consular agents in Canada to harm Brown's candidacy.
Sources said campaign workers were told by representatives of the government of India to stop supporting Brown, not to sell membership cards for him and not to invite him to certain events.
Radio-Canada granted the sources confidentiality because they say they fear for their safety.
The RCMP announced in October they have evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in serious criminal activity in Canada, including murders and extortion.
Brown has been summoned to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security looking into "electoral interference and criminal activities in Canada by agents of the Government of India."
Indian officials contacted Rempel Garner: sources
Allegations of interference in the Conservative Party leadership race involving a Conservative member of Parliament were first reported on last year by the Baaz News Organization, a media outlet for the Sikh community in Canada.
"At least one Member of Parliament was visited by representatives of an Indian Consulate in Canada [who] urged the MP to pull their support for Patrick Brown during the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership race," the outlet reported in December 2023. The report did not identify the MP.
According to Radio-Canada's sources, the Conservative MP in question is Michelle Rempel Garner of Calgary Nose Hill.
"Indian consulate representatives had approached Michelle, strongly suggesting that it was not in her best interest to continue working alongside Patrick," said a highly-placed source in Brown's campaign.
The MP shared this information with several other members of the team, sources said.
"It was a topic of discussion in one of our campaign conference calls with her about it," said one source.
"These Indian diplomats ... approached her and told her, 'You need to retract your support for Patrick,'" said another person who took part in the campaign conference call.
Some time later, on June 16, 2022 — in the middle of the leadership race — Rempel Garner quit her position as co-chair of Brown's campaign. She said she was seriously considering a bid to replace Jason Kenney as leader of Alberta's United Conservative Party (UCP).
She publicly abandoned the idea a week later, citing concerns about the "present internal UCP caucus dynamic." She did not return to her position in Brown's campaign.
Brown declined Radio-Canada's request for an interview. Rempel Garner sent a written statement.
"I left Mr. Brown's campaign completely of my own volition," she said in that statement.
"In no instance was I coerced in any manner, by anyone, at any time. I am an experienced parliamentarian, seasoned communicator, and former cabinet minister who has proven more than capable of developing senior grade positions entirely based on my own read of a situation … to suggest that I'm not is ridiculous."
She added that she has always worked to prevent discord among diaspora groups.
"Preventing that division is why I've always taken into account the perspectives of many different Canadian interest groups and stakeholders before addressing issues that pertain to diaspora communities," she said.
Poilievre's office says it has 'no knowledge' of interference
In response to Radio-Canada's questions, Poilievre's office said it has "no knowledge" of any attempts by Indian government representatives to undermine Brown's campaign.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians cited "India's alleged interference in a Conservative Party of Canada leadership race" in its explosive report on foreign interference. A redacted version of that report was made public in June 2024.
"CSIS did not advise the Conservative Party of Canada of any intelligence suggesting there was foreign interference in the leadership contest," Sarah Fischer, director of communications for the Conservative Party, said at the time. "This is the first time we have heard about it."
Poilievre is the only party leader in Parliament who still refuses to obtain the necessary security clearance to access classified documents on foreign governments' political interference activities in Canada.
Brown 'disinvited' to Indian event: sources
Pressure from Indian consular officials was not limited to the directors of Brown's campaign during the Conservative Party leadership race, said Radio-Canada's sources.
Campaign workers on the ground also were allegedly targeted, they said.
"Supporters from the Hindu community were being told that they were not allowed to sign up members for Patrick Brown by officials of the Indian consulates," said a source close to the campaign.
"It was also made clear to organizers of events that Indian consulates had told them you can't invite Patrick Brown to these diaspora kind of events where the consulate is going to be involved."
Sources said the pressure came from Indian consular officials themselves or from their "proxies" — Canadian organizations linked to the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They said the Indian agents were not explicitly directing their supporters to any candidate's camp.
This spring, former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director David Vigneault was questioned before the commission investigating foreign interference about whether India interferes in high-priority individual races.
"I think it is absolutely fair to say the purpose of foreign interference is to maximize the interests of the foreign party. And so this is absolutely a tactic that has been used, to undermine candidates or individuals who may not be in favour of your position and promote people who might be in favour of your position," he responded.
Sources told Radio-Canada that agents of the Indian government made Brown persona non grata at a community event when it was widely known that he was planning to run for the Conservative leadership.
"There was a Panorama India event hosted by the Indian community and they directly told Patrick that, 'You are no longer welcome because of your ties with the Sikh community,'" said one of the sources.
"They told him, 'You have upset our friends at the Indian consulate and they would prefer that you not attend.'"
Every year, Panorama India, an association based in Mississauga, Ont., celebrates Republic Day, an Indian national holiday.
Brown had participated in the festivities in the past and has attended since. He did not attend in 2022, the year of the leadership race.
The event was scheduled for Feb. 27, two weeks before the official launch of Brown's campaign.
His team, which already had been hard at work for months, saw it as a great opportunity for their candidate to solicit support from the Hindu community.
But Brown was reportedly "disinvited" at the request of Indian consular officials, one source said.
As mayor of Brampton, the Canadian city with the largest Sikh population, Brown had developed close ties with the Sikh community, members of his campaign said.
Brown had posted messages on Twitter in support of farmers during the massive demonstrations in India against the Modi government's agricultural reform. Many of these farmers came from Punjab, a Sikh-majority state.
When one of the movement's supporters, actor and activist Deep Sidhu, died in a car accident in India, Brown participated in a vigil organized by the Sikh community outside Brampton City Hall and posted a photo of the event on his Twitter account in February 2022.
Indian media reported at the time that the Modi government had "serious concerns" about Brown's attendance at the vigil and made them known to the federal government.
Panorama India's chairperson at the time did not respond to Radio-Canada's request for comment. The current chairperson said she was shocked by the allegations and insisted the organization is not political.
On its website, Panorama India says it's a not-for-profit umbrella organization for various Indian cultural associations.
It was established with support from the Consulate General of India in Toronto and the Indian consul is the honorary patron of Panorama India, according to the organization's website.
The High Commission of India in Ottawa and the Indian consulates general in Toronto and Vancouver did not respond to requests for comment.
From friend to foe
Prime Minister Modi's government fiercely opposes the creation of an independent Sikh state, which it describes as a threat to national security.
That issue is at the heart of current tensions between Canada and India.
In September 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shocked the world when he announced "credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar" — a Sikh activist.
Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in what appeared to be a highly coordinated attack as he left the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023. A Canadian citizen, Nijjar was a prominent local leader in the Khalistan movement pushing for the creation of an independent Sikh state in India.
India flatly rejected these allegations and called Canada a safe haven for terrorists and extremists.
The following month, U.S. authorities charged an Indian intelligence officer in what they said was a foiled plot to kill another leader of the Sikh separatist movement in New York.
Sources told Radio-Canada that India — led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party — did not want a candidate in the Conservative leadership race who was close to the Sikh community.
"India wants friends, not foes. And they view right now the Muslim and Sikh communities in Canada as inconsistent with their national agenda," one source said.
Brown and Modi actually used to be friends.
The relationship between the two men developed in the early 2000s, when Modi was chief minister of the State of Gujarat.
At the time, Brown was a federal backbencher in Stephen Harper's government and president of the Canada-India Parliamentary Association.
In his autobiography, Brown talks about his numerous trips to India and the royal treatment he received through his connection with Modi.
He even describes the Indian politician as "one of my inspirations in politics," citing his economic achievements.
But Brown has since expressed concerns about the religious-nationalist character of the Modi government.
"I have been tremendously disappointed with what's happened in India," Brown said in a 2022 campaign video, accusing the country of "discrimination" against Muslim, Sikh and Christian communities.
In his message, he invited diaspora members to join the Conservative Party of Canada so they could vote for him. But Brown never did finish the race.
In July 2022, he was disqualified by Conservative Party authorities following allegations of "serious wrongdoing" linked to election financing.
At the time, Brown accused the "party establishment" of "wanting to make sure Poilievre did not lose."
In September 2022, Poilievre easily won the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race.
In February 2024, the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections dismissed the allegations that had been made against Brown's campaign. The commissioner concluded, after "a thorough review of the information" provided by the Conservative Party, that it was "not in the public interest" to pursue an investigation. The commissioner declared the file "closed."
In response to Radio-Canada's questions, the Conservative Party of Canada said it "was not then nor today aware" of Indian foreign interference meant to compromise Brown's campaign.
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