Canada prime minister’s national security adviser (NSA) Nathalie Drouin has admitted to leaking sensitive information on India's alleged interference in the murder of Sikh extremist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar to the US newspaper Washington Post, stating it was done because "they felt it was necessary."
Drouin and Canada Deputy Foreign Minister David Morisson made the statement while appearing before the Foreign Interference Commission on Tuesday, according to Canadian newspaper National Post. Her statement invited widespread flak from Opposition Conservative Party MPs who alleged the duo revealed sensitive information which was otherwise not released to the Canadian public.
"We made a strategic decision to engage a respected international news outlet that had already published on the subject to ensure the record was straight and that our side of the story would be widely heard," Drouin told the panel. The official added that the move was part of shoring up Canada’s international case to our allies.
She also denied allegations that she released classified info to the Washington Post, stating that it only "contained the same information that was provided to opposition party leaders here."
Drouin's role in the alleged info leak came to light after The Globe and Mail published a report last week alleging that she, along with Morrison, shared sensitive information with the Post. The report that appeared a week ago said the duo asked the Post to "hold off on publishing the piece until after the police had spoken." The Post report had claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered intelligence operations on Canadians.
However, Drouin's admission about the leak was met with criticism from the opposition camp. Conservative MP Raquel Dancho said she was disturbed that information Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t reveal to Canadians was leaked to a U.S. newspaper. "I just find that kind of unfair to the Canadian public that details were released in advance to the Washington Post and confirmed to the Washington Post, but not provided to to Canada," she said at the hearing. "Don’t you find that odd?"
Drouin also told the MPs that the government tried to confront Indian officials "who cancelled several meetings abruptly" before a meeting in Singapore. Here the Royal Canadian Mounted Police laid out evidence "linking India to the violent criminal activities taking place in Canada". However, Indians rejected the evidence, she said.
However, she said stories began appearing in Indian media right away and the Canadian government felt it needed to go public.