Poilievre calls on federal government to classify Bishnoi gang as terror entity
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/08/2025 (405 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
SURREY – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is the latest politician calling for the federal government to designate the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a terrorist entity.
His call on a visit to Surrey, B.C., comes after RCMP in the city announced last month they had made two arrests in an investigation into extortion targeting the South Asian business community.
Police have linked some extortion cases back to the gang, whose leader Lawrence Bishnoi is in prison in India.
Poilievre says a terror designation will be part of a tough-on-crime push the Conservatives will make during the fall session of Parliament.
He says the move would help police and prosecutors deal with an international extortion group that’s been active in Surrey as well as cities including Calgary and Brampton, Ont.
Poilievre says his party is also pushing to increase mandatory prison sentences for extortion, starting with a four-year sentence for the first offence.
“Our plan repeals catch and release bail, brings in mandatory jail time for repeat offenders, and ensures that we have a ban on the Bishnoi terrorists, so that this network of extortionists and terrorists are automatically criminalized,” he told a news conference.
In June, B.C. Premier David Eby asked the federal government to declare the gang a terrorist organization, a call repeated by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith last month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.