Convicted felon’s invite to dinner with Trudeau highlights ‘serious gaps’: expert

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Questions around security are being raised after a convicted felon was invited to a dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in India.

As a former member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (a banned terrorist group in Canada and India), Jaspal Atwal was convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian cabinet minister in 1986.

He managed to get on the guest list thanks to Surrey Centre MP Randeep Sarai, who’s since claimed responsibility for his actions and admitted he should have used better judgement.

Andre Gerolymatos, the co-director of Simon Fraser University’s Terrorism Risk and Securities studies, says the first question that comes to mind is how this could have happened to begin with.

“[Atwal] was taking part in an act of terrorism, of a foreign politician on Canadian soil and he managed to walk away, ultimately. He was also a criminal and despite all these things, he was able to get involved in provincial politics, federal politics, and almost ended up having dinner with the Prime Minister and posing with his wife.”

Gerolymatos says it’s clear Atwal was not properly vetted, and believes this points to serious gaps in Trudeau’s security detail. “This is not a very good sign. When the prime minister is travelling abroad, he must be very well protected, otherwise we could end up with a tragedy.”

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He adds there are some people who may take this opportunity to make a point, not to mention use an opportunity like this that could cause the Prime Minister harm. Though Gerolymatos believes Trudeau did the best he could when presented with the facts, he says he should have known better.

“He should have known that he was going to India and there would be situations where people with backgrounds in terrorism would have tried to make their way near him or near the Prime Minister of India, just for the heck of publicity.”

The controversial invite not only forces Trudeau’s team to look at how it operates, but also highlights the importance of tougher laws against terrorism in Canada.

“I think that’s a bigger story than a slip-up in the Prime Minister’s security… If you shoot a foreign politician, or anyone, any citizen, in this country and you don’t spend serious time in prison, it’s an open invitation to terrorists that Canada is ok,” he says. “That you can come here, kill people and you’ll get a slap on the wrist.”

Atwal’s invitation wasn’t caught until after he had already attended a reception with the prime minister on Tuesday evening, and posed for photos with both Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi.

Former government security analyst Stephanie Carvin says Atwal should have been flagged by the RCMP of the PMO well before he got to the reception.

“There was a major failure here in just kind of basic security,” she says.

“How exactly do these people are being vetted, if they’re being vetted at all, or is it that the Prime Minister’s Office just is not taking the advice of the security services?”

Atwal was one of four people who ambushed and shot Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island, and has also been convicted of fraud and charged –but not convicted– in connection with a 1985 attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, a staunch opponent of the Sikh separatist movement’s push for an independent Sikh state of Khalistan.

Trudeau told reporters in New Delhi prior to a speech at the Canada-India Business Summit where several hundred Canadian and Indian business people were gathered that it was wrong to issue the invitation.

‘Extremely embarrassing’: federal opposition

Conservative Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer says the invite is an embarrassment at a time when there are tensions over Sikh extremists.

“I’m very concerned with what this will mean for relations with India,” he says. “This is an important partner for Canada.”

Scheer calls the situation “extremely embarrassing,” and says there was a complete lapse of judgement. “This type of… failure is just going to set us back.”