‘Huge urgency’ in addressing rising extortion cases in B.C.: Eby

B.C. Premier David Eby said federal and provincial authorities feel a “huge amount of urgency” to address rising cases of extortion targeting South Asian communities in the province.

At a press conference in Surrey Friday, Eby, along with federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, committed $1 million in funding to support extortion victims in B.C. The money is intended to boost police communications to victims and to help develop safety plans if required.

“Anyone who is facing these threats, they cannot rest at home and feel comfortable and safe, they’re worried about their businesses … they’re heartbreaking stories,” Eby told reporters Friday.

But while Eby acknowledged urgency in addressing the rising cases, he also cautioned that getting to the networks behind the extortion attempts will take time.

“There’s a difference between arresting the front line person that commits the offence of shooting at a house and doing the deeper police work of rooting out the entire noxious weed of the organization,” Eby said.

“We have asked police not to focus exclusively on the front line people … but who is paying them, what are the roots and can we pull out the whole plant instead of plucking a few leaves, because the leaves are just going to come back.”

Communities in B.C. have reported a troubling rise in the number of violent extortion threats this year, particularly targeting Canadians of South Asian descent. That includes Surrey, which as of last week reported 101 extortion files and 44 “shots fired” incidents related to extortion so far this year.

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Surrey’s police chief called the numbers “alarming.”

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“Extortions are (a) relatively new and deeply troubling threat in Canada — one of the most significant we have seen in recent years. These criminals rely on fear as their primary weapon,” wrote Surrey Police Chief Constable Norm Lipinski in a public letter last week.

“They want residents to feel vulnerable, isolated, and reluctant to come forward. We cannot let that happen.”

In October 2024, the RCMP took the extraordinary step of warning the Canadian public that “agents of the Government of India” were involved in serious criminal activity in Canada, including extortion.

The national force said at the time their public warning was motivated by the “significant threat to public safety” those activities represent. The RCMP noted the use of organized crime to create “the perception of an unsafe environment” for South Asian Canadians.

Balpreet Singh, a spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization (WSO) in Canada, said that while he was pleased to hear of collaboration between Ottawa and B.C. to address the issue, he was disappointed by the “tiptoeing” around naming the “actual root of the problem.”

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“This isn’t just random crime happening. This is an organized crime wave that has its roots in India,” Singh told Global News Friday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has attempted to rebuild diplomatic — and crucially economic — ties with New Delhi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after years of fraught relations. Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, publicly revealed that Canada had intelligence linking agents of the Indian government to the assassination of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.

Nijjar was a leader within the Khalistan movement, which advocates for a homeland for Sikhs separate from India. India has long accused Canada of harboring “extremists,” and the Khalistan movement has been an irritant in bilateral relations.

Canada, meanwhile, recently listed the international criminal organization known as the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity. The India-based gang has been accused by the RCMP of a campaign of violence against Sikh activists in Canada.

“Canada clearly wants to rebuild economic ties with India, but it’s at the expense of accountability, the duty to protect Canadians, our sovereignty,” Singh said.

“Once again, the RCMP and government officials have already said that the government of India was the one that created this phenomenon. So why are we not saying it? Is it to, you know, have more supply chains?”

Anandasangaree, the federal public safety minister and a B.C. MP, allowed that transnational repression was one factor in the rising number of extortion cases.

“(But) ultimately this is about money,” Anandasanagree told reporters.

“People who are involved in (these) heinous crimes are bad people whose singular focus is money. And it’s not about what they do to get the money, it’s about the end goal.”