Canada's Indian-origin MP Chandra Arya barred from running under party's banner over alleged ties to India: Report

Ottawa: Canada's Liberal Party revoked Indian-origin MP Chandra Arya's bid to run for the party leadership and his nomination in his own Ottawa Nepean constituency over his alleged ties to the Indian government, a media report said on Wednesday.

Citing a source with top-secret clearance, the Globe and Mail daily reported that Arya, who visited India last August and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had not informed the government of that trip even though bilateral relations are in a deep freeze.

The Liberals have never revealed why they barred the three-term Liberal MP from the party’s recent leadership race or from running again in Nepean constituency, the paper said.

Citing the source, the daily reported that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had briefed the government about Arya’s "alleged close ties to the government of India, including its High Commission in Ottawa".

Liberal Party officials who have security clearances and had received a general CSIS briefing on foreign interference also had concerns about Arya, a Liberal source said.

The decisions to remove Arya as a candidate for the leadership and Nepean nomination were solely made by the Liberal Party and were not on the advice of CSIS, sources said.

Party officials, in charge of monitoring foreign meddling, found troubling inconsistencies in information that Arya had put in a confidential questionnaire, the second source said.

Arya rejected the allegations that he has been influenced by India.

“As a Member of Parliament, I have engaged with numerous diplomats and heads of government, both in Canada and internationally. Not once have I sought – nor been required to seek – permission from the government to do so,” he said in a statement to The Globe.

At no point did former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or any cabinet minister raise concerns about my meetings or public statements, he said.

Arya, who is of the Hindu faith, said he believes he was removed from the leadership and Nepean nomination because he’s spoken out against the Sikh Khalistani movement in Canada that promotes a separate state in Punjab.

“The sole point of contention with the Liberal Party has been my outspoken advocacy on issues important to Hindu Canadians and my firm stance against Khalistani extremism,” he said in the statement.

The voting for the general election will take place on April 28.

Last week, Arya released a letter from the Liberal Party that informed him it decided to disallow his Nepean nomination after “a thorough review of your eligibility to serve as a candidate” in the riding and based on “new information” made available to the party’s “Green Light committee.” The relations between India and Canada plummetted to a new low after the then Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau alleged in September 2023 that India was behind the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a charge trashed by India.

The allegation led to the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats by New Delhi, which also withdrew six Indian diplomats from Canada in October 2024. Ottawa, however, said it had expelled them.