Federal government refuses to share details about ‘surge’ in resources to combat extortion as Carney’s India trip muddies the waters
Amid rising extortion cases in Peel Region targeting South Asian residents, particularly Sikhs, and business owners, the federal government announced new measures to combat organized financial crime with the assistance of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
It will gather financial intelligence of these criminal networks and support police investigations.
The announcement was meant to signal the commitment by the Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney to address the violent crimes linked to the Indian government.
That commitment was put in doubt last week after an unnamed government official claimed the federal Liberals no longer believe the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuing its involvement in these crimes.
Despite repeated calls for answers from members of the public, including a packed town hall meeting in Brampton this past December when the city’s Sikh community gathered to demand answers, few details about the resources being redirected to address the targeted extortions and violence have been shared by the federal government.
“Our community cannot afford more silence,” Gurlin Kaur Dhadda said at the town hall meeting. She is the daughter of businessman Harjeet Singh Dhadda, who was shot multiple times in broad daylight in a parking lot in Mississauga in May.
Minister of Finance and National Revenue François-Philippe Champagne was in Mississauga on February 19 to announce the news that FINTRAC will “surge” resources toward addressing the threat of extortion across Canada.
“We are going to make the lives of criminals miserable,” Champagne said. He was joined at the press conference by Brampton and Mississauga MPs, alongside Peel Police officials. “Enough is enough. We are making sure that we use all the tools in our toolbox to go after you.”
According to the new federal government initiative, FINTRAC will now prioritize “financial intelligence resources” to battle extortion and assist law enforcement with more timely information; a new Countering Extortion Partnership with Canadian banks, credit units and financial service providers, including cryptocurrencies will “enhance information sharing and share best practices to fight extortion”; and financial intelligence experts from FINTRAC will now be assigned as liaison officers to help police in the most affected areas (the areas are not named).
“These officers will provide specialized financial intelligence expertise, strengthen information sharing, and ensure financial intelligence is supporting enforcement efforts, investigations, and prosecutions,” a press release explains.
Guidance on how to detect extortion will be given to financial institutions to “recognize patterns and behaviors commonly associated with extortion,” and FINTRAC will also publish details of how criminals launder extortion proceeds.
Champagne said the federal government would use these measures to make sure that “there is no place to hide” for those involved in extortion crimes.
“Follow the money is the golden rule,” he said.
“If it doesn’t work with what we have, we are going to put more and more (funding).”
When asked how much funding the federal government is directing to FINTRAC for these new initiatives and whether any additional officers will be deployed for the project, Champagne declined to provide any information.
“I can not go into operational details because this is about fighting crime, and we don’t want the criminals to know the operational aspect of what we are doing,” he said. “What I can tell you is that there will be a significant presence of our FINTRAC officers (for that project), and if additional resources are needed, we will be there.”
It’s unclear why Champagne was unwilling to share more details about the resources being dedicated to this initiative; it is common practice for governments to provide information about the number of staff and taxpayer dollars being directed to such a project.
In October, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new measures to combat crime, and in that press release, he shared that 150 RCMP personnel will be hired specifically to tackle financial crimes. It is not known if some of these are the officers that will be directed to the new FINTRAC initiatives.
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue, spoke at the press conference in Mississauga on February 19.
(Government of Canada)
Although extortion crimes are affecting various regions across Canada, Peel has become a hotspot for these criminal activities, where businesses have been targeted, numerous shootings have occurred and incidents are on the rise.
According to data from Peel Police, 319 extortion-related incidents were reported in 2023, in 2024, there were 494; and the latest numbers for 2025 show 476 cases had been reported by December 10.
The Sikh community is at the centre of the extortion crisis in Peel.
“I’ve received extortion calls at least five times,” Manpreet Boparai, owner of 22 Auto Sales, said in a Punjabi-language interview with OMNI Television last year.
“Our Caledon Mitsubishi dealership was shot at multiple times—36 rounds were fired. What about the families who get calls every day, being told, ‘We’re going to kill you' or ‘We know where you and your kids go’? After the threats, I spent 20 days hiding out at a friend’s house. I changed my home and changed my phone number—and I’m still getting calls.”
In May, Harjeet Singh Dhadda, 51, a commercial insurance broker, was shot multiple times in broad daylight in a Mississauga parking lot after he refused to pay $500,000 to extortionists.
The Bishnoi gang, a criminal entity that evidence shows is working with the Indian government, took responsibility for Singh’s murder, according to several media reports.
Singh’s daughter, Gurleen Dhadda, told the media at the time that he had been receiving threats and phone calls for the past few years. The family reported this to Peel Police, but said they were not taken seriously.
From extortions to shootings and murder, the same gang was linked with the Indian government by Canadian law enforcement and intelligence authorities. In 2024, the RCMP established the connection of the Bishnoi gang to the 2023 assassination of Sikh rights leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot multiple times in a Gurdwara parking lot in Surrey, British Columbia.
Despite the numerous pieces of evidence pointing out India’s alleged involvement in carrying out criminal operations in Canada, the unnamed senior official of the federal government claimed India is not currently orchestrating violent crimes on Canadian soil.
The statement received backlash from Sikh leaders, and on February 22, Moninder Singh, head of the Sikh Federation of Canada, received a warning from a Vancouver police official about the credible threat to his life, which was extended to his wife and children.
Singh suggested police indicated the threat was linked to the Indian government.
That was days before Carney landed in India to meet with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, after the relationship was severed when former prime minister Justin Trudeau disclosed evidence in 2024 of violence in Canada orchestrated by Modi’s BJP government.
Carney did not address India’s alleged involvement in criminal operations in Canada while visiting the country and did not take any questions from reporters.
After he arrived in Australia earlier this week on the three-nation trade mission, he finally addressed the backlash following the unnamed government official’s claims that the Indian government is no longer committing crimes in Canada.
“I would not use those words, first point,” he told reporters on March 3. Carney said Canada “will not tolerate foreign interference or transnational repression by anyone," but did not name the Indian government or call it until after he left the country, following his meetings with Modi and other Indian officials.
A coalition of Sikh organizations from across the country wrote a joint letter on Wednesday, March 4, to federal MPs from the ruling Liberals and the Official Opposition Conservatives. The group urged elected officials from both parties to uphold transparency regarding Indian transnational repression; called for the completion of the October 2024 parliamentary study on foreign interference and criminal activity by agents of the Indian government; and requested an independent public inquiry into the 2023 assassination of Mr. Nijjar.
The coalition of Sikh organizations criticized both Liberals and Conservatives for failing to act to protect Canadian citizens.
As Canada recommits to trade relations with India, Sikh advocates question the federal government about what guarantees are in place to protect Canadians in the future.
On Monday, the RCMP told The Pointer the Indian government is linked to ongoing criminal investigations.
“For operational integrity and security, we will not provide further information until charges have been laid and it is a matter of public record.” RCMP spokesperson Marie-Eve Breton, told The Pointer.
The wave of extortion threats has spread fear among the Sikh community and many are too scared to come forward, officials heard at the December town hall in Brampton.
Balpreet Singh Boparai, legal counsel at the World Sikh Organization (WSO) said that community members are feeling “insecure and helpless.”
“There are hundreds of victims,” Boparai said. “Some of them have approached me today who are not willing to speak publicly, are telling me their stories, and saying that we don’t know what to do. No one takes any sort of action.”
On December 7, Sikh community members gathered at the Canadian Convention Centre in Brampton, urging elected representatives and law enforcement officials to dismantle Indian government-backed criminal groups involved in violent crimes, such as extortion, that target Peel’s large Sikh community.
(Muhammad Hamza/The Pointer files)
Sikh advocates urged the federal government to take proactive measures to combat extortion.
“The reason we needed to organize this town hall and gather all of Canada’s largest Sikh advocacy organizations and institutions is because of the increasing trust deficit between the community and the government,” Parabjot Singh, legal counsel with the Sikh Federation of Canada, said during the town hall. “We know that the root of the violence that impacted our communities originates in India. This isn’t a law-and-order issue or a regional issue; it's a national security issue.”
According to U.S. and Canadian evidence, agents of the Indian government directed the assassination of Mr. Nijjar, and the country is using the same criminal networks used in his murder to carry out other transnational crimes targeting Sikh Canadians and others in the South Asian community.
In June, Peel Police, with the assistance of other GTA law enforcement agencies and the Canada Border Services Agency, announced the dismantling of a criminal organization that was targeting South Asian-owned businesses.
Surrounded by seized guns and cash, Peel Police officials announced the arrests of 18 individuals with ties to the criminal enterprise and the 97 charges that were laid at the time, including fraud, illegal possession of firearms, and violent extortion.
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