Alberta wants India’s Lawrence Bishnoi gang designated as terrorist group

Alberta is joining British Columbia in calling on the federal government to have an India-based gang designated as a terrorist organization.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the Lawrence Bishnoi gang must be dismantled to “keep Canadians safe.”

“We know that gang activity knows no boundaries and respects no borders, and Alberta wants to send a clear message: you are not welcome here.”

The joint statement by Smith and Mike Ellis, minister for public safety and emergency services, comes nearly a month after B.C. Premier David Eby and Surrey Mayor Brenda said they would write to Prime Minister Mark Carney asking for the designation.

BACKGROUND: Eby to ask PM to declare India’s Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist group, amid extortion fears

The RCMP has linked the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to extortions and other crimes against South Asian community members in Alberta, Ontario, and Surrey.

A terrorism designation could give police more tools to fight organized crime networks— whether the groups allegedly involved in extortion threats and other crimes are based locally or internationally.

Once a group is listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, for example, any property owned by the group can be frozen by the government, and law enforcement can deploy additional resources to probe crimes associated with financing, travel, and recruitment.

“We are committed to taking action to keep terrorist organizations, gangs and violent criminals from targeting and exploiting the people of Alberta,” Smith and Ellis wrote. “South Asian communities in Alberta and across Canada have been disproportionately targeted and affected by this threat.

“The time for action is now. Alberta’s government is asking the federal government and Prime Minister Mark Carney to join them in taking a stand and act to protect Albertans and all Canadians.”

In Ontario, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the chances of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang being named a terrorist group after meeting with federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in mid-June.

Brown said the gang has become more brazen in Brampton, with police spotting vehicles with Bishnoi-affiliated decals in the Ontario city.

Anandasangaree said national security officials “continuously” review whether criminal organizations meet the legal threshold to be named as terrorist groups.

The Criminal Code defines terrorist activity as a violent act that is, in whole or in part, committed for political, ideological, or religious purposes and is meant to intimidate a segment of the public.

Lawrence Bishnoi has been in an Indian prison since 2015 and has more than two dozen criminal cases pending against him. He has been accused of orchestrating violent acts of extortion while incarcerated, using a cellphone.

–With files from Charles Brockman and Srushti Gangdev, CityNews Vancouver, and The Canadian Press