The Canadian conundrum

Recent diplomatic crises have shone an instructive spotlight on the Canadian system. In early September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged an Indian hand in the murder of a Sikh extremist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. A few days later, Canada was plunged into yet another crisis when it felicitated a former Waffen SS—a combat branch of the Nazi Party—soldier, Yaroslav Hunkain, the House of Commons. The latter’s felicitation helped Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to make an unexpected victory in the war of narratives over the Ukraine conflict, where Putin made the ‘de-Nazification’ of Ukraine the motive for Russian actions. For long, Canada has been shielded from international gaze in the shadow of its powerful southern neighbour, the United States (US). In a simpler world, this enabled Canada to pursue insulated approaches, sans any significant blowback. With a superpower for the closest ally, Russia, a clearly defined arch enemy and emerging nations such as India and China mired in multiple developmental challenges, the arithmetic worked. The world has moved on since, and the challenger states have emerged as political heavyweights and economic powerhouses. Their emergence has morphed the field and changed the game as they increasingly assert themselves on the global stage. However, Canada has not kept pace with this changed external reality. Instead, Canada has responded by going the opposite way, hanging on to counterproductive constructs of the past, putting it on a collision course with the rest of the world.

With a superpower for the closest ally, Russia, a clearly defined arch enemy and emerging nations such as India and China mired in multiple developmental challenges, the arithmetic worked.

Skewed assimilation 

Canada relies heavily on immigration as the panacea for its ageing demographics and below-replacement birth rates. Today, immigrants make up roughly a quarter of the Canadian populace. As Canada continues to receive hundreds of thousands of newcomers each year, it faces mounting challenges related to housing, healthcare, and employment. Compounding these challenges is the absence of a coordinated integration approach which in turn pushes newcomers towards familiar support systems offered by the immigrant communities. Consequently, these communities become increasingly insular and ghettoised, serving as echo chambers for the problems and conflicts they bring with them. As these communities gain political traction, their narratives are heavily influenced by what gets amplified within these echo chambers. Local political figures often pander to these communities, further entrenching their insularity. The rise of the far right and the hijacking of the political narrative by perverse fringe elements within immigrant populations are a consequence of this dynamic. It is not only drastically reshaping Canadian politics and way of life, but also influencing Canada’s global alignments, priorities, and strategic response. If left unchecked, this trajectory might alter the very essence of what Canada stands for, both at home and on the global stage.

The rise of the far right and the hijacking of the political narrative by perverse fringe elements within immigrant populations are a consequence of this dynamic. 

 

Lenient criminal justice 

Reforms to the criminal justice system starting in the late 1970s sought to prioritise rehabilitation. Introduced by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, it pivoted on easy bails, lenient sentences, and early paroles. For instance, under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, younger criminals are assured anonymity, even if they were found guilty of crimes like murder, severely undercutting the weight of the judiciary’s rulings. Within the Canadian system, many offenders today are eligible for full parole after serving just a third of their sentence, and some even qualify for unescorted short leaves after completing only a sixth of their mandated time. The painfully long-drawn investigation and lack of meaningful prosecution in the 1985 Air India bombing is a case in point. Nobody got convicted for the world’s most heinous aviation attack before 9/11, which cost 329 innocents their lives, representing a grave travesty of justice for the families of those killed. Such an approach arguably overshadows other essential components of sentencing, such as deterring future crimes, condemning unlawful behaviour, and public safety, leading to a vicious cycle from which there seems no easy escape. Such permissiveness ironically finds little public support within Canada itself, with close to 80 percent of those polled by a recent crime and drug survey viewing the prevalent criminal justice system as too easy on offenders and punishments way too lenient. The view was echoed by no less than the Canadian Supreme Court which observed that Canadian judges have been too soft on punishment for too long.

Within the Canadian system, many offenders today are eligible for full parole after serving just a third of their sentence, and some even qualify for unescorted short leaves after completing only a sixth of their mandated time.

Canada’s Achilles’ heel 

Canada has long prided its commitment to freedom of speech and expression. However, it is also increasingly becoming its Achilles’ heel. Canada’s liberal approach is providing a platform for motivated groups to conflate freedom with licentiousness. These entities manipulate freedoms to promote criminality, hiding behind the protective veil of rights. While the Canadian Criminal Code has anti-hate provisions, unsurprisingly, prosecutions under those provisions are rare. It is this permissiveness that allows divisive individuals such as Gurpatwant Singh Panun to spew hate and threaten to commit acts of terror. It is also the same permissiveness that allowed the likes of Jim Keegstra to openly spread antisemitism among the children he taught, forever poisoning their impressionable minds. Such misuse doesn’t just tarnish Canada’s domestic harmony but has broader implications. It risks making Canada’s tolerance an enabler, creating a refuge for activities that undermine global efforts towards a safer world. For Canada, the challenge lies in ensuring that the ideals of freedom don’t become tools for malevolent endeavours. 

While the Canadian Criminal Code has anti-hate provisions, unsurprisingly, prosecutions under those provisions are rare.

A potent mix

Canada’s lax immigration and justice systems threaten to not only polarize Canadian society but also make it the staging post for conflicts around the world. It makes Canada a magnet for fugitives from the law both from the outside and from within. Large organised crime syndicates such as the Wolfpack Alliance and gangs such as Hells Angels along with hundreds of several others have been responsible for hundreds of homicides in Canada each year. In 2021 alone, nearly a quarter of all homicides were gang-related. Canada is also home to some of the most controversial figures of our time, complicit in some of the worst crimes against humanity. Noor Choudhury, convicted in the killing of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, remains safe in Canada despite Bangladesh’s attempts over the years to have him face trial at home. Yousif Ibrahim Ismaeil a key figure in the deadly conflict between rebel leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Sudan’s ruling council head, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan operates to this day out of Winnipeg. Liberian warlord Bill Horace, accused of horrendous and sadistic war crimes during the Liberian civil war of the 90s, had a free run in Canada for over two decades until he was gunned down in 2020. Despite the evidence, the Canadian authorities did not pursue a case against him. Inaction against such individuals not only lets down the victims of their criminal actions but also gives short shrift to Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act which asserts universal jurisdiction over offences like genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Canadian law.

Liberian warlord Bill Horace, accused of horrendous and sadistic war crimes during the Liberian civil war of the 90s, had a free run in Canada for over two decades until he was gunned down in 2020.

Controversial legacy

However, concerns that Canada is a haven for criminals have echoed for long. Hundreds of Nazis emigrated to Canada after World War II leading up to apprehensions that Canada was becoming a haven for war criminals. Such concerns culminated in the very voluminous and partially public Commission of Enquiry on War Criminals in 1986. The report incidentally also has a separate section on the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a soldier from which is at the centre of the currently raging diplomatic fiasco. A cenotaph celebrating the division stands to this day at the largest Ukrainian cemetery in Canada, the St Volodymyr Ukrainian cemetery in Oakville, barely 40km from Toronto, to the understandable horror of Jews, Poles and other victim groups. Canada, however, has been permissive given the assumption that it holds memorial value to certain communities. So, much so, that when the memorial was vandalised by anti-Nazi Groups a few years ago, the vandalism bizarrely triggered a hate crime investigation against those who vandalised the Nazi commemorative! This permissiveness finds echoes in Canadian accommodation of ‘Khalistani’ extremist groups, which comprise an infinitesimal fringe of the vibrant Canadian Sikh community who cherish and celebrate their ties to India.

The country’s lenient immigration and criminal justice policies have arguably paved the way for a landscape where crime, extremism, and international controversies intertwine.

Canada’s crossroads

Canada stands at a precarious juncture in its history, as it seeks to balance between its historic ideals and the realities of a changed world. The country’s lenient immigration and criminal justice policies have arguably paved the way for a landscape where crime, extremism, and international controversies intertwine. Canada needs to urgently rethink its approaches that overshadow deterrence, safety and justice. This is not only for its own sake but also for the thousands of millions worldwide who are impacted by it. However, despite repeated wakeup calls, successive administrations have inexplicably opted to hit snooze, pandering to a misplaced sense of morality and vote bank politics of the most dangerous kind. It is a wake-up call that Canada can no longer afford to ignore. Perceptions of Canada as a sanctuary for global offenders and an enabling hub for their crimes not only tarnish its international reputation but also pose a direct threat to its societal fabric. The once-praised Canadian tolerance is now being tested by its policies, and its internal challenges reflect a nation grappling with its identity. Canada’s future hinges on its willingness to adapt and perhaps most importantly, to learn from its experiences over the past few weeks, if not decades.

Jaibal Naduvath is Vice President and Senior Fellow of the Observer Research Foundation