Indian students in a small Canadian province reportedly lied about being the victims of a hate crime while demanding the government issue them permanent residency permits.
On May 9, Indians in the community of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, launched a mass protest in opposition to changes to the province’s permanent residency program. The province sought to cut down on the number of permanent residency permits issued by at least 25%, owing to pressure on its healthcare system and housing market.
The new rules, announced in February, prioritized highly skilled immigrants working in specific occupations, such as healthcare and construction, while de-prioritizing those working in the food and service industries. As a result, international students from India who had been working in low-skill occupations with the expectation they would be provided a pathway to citizenship were told they would be required to return to their country of origin once their study visa had expired.
Launching a protest in response to the changes, Indian students demanded they be grandfathered into the old system. They took to the streets, eventually settling their protest on the doorstep of the province’s legislative assembly on May 23 and setting up a camp where protestors began living in tents. On May 28, the protestors began a short-lived “dry hunger strike,” avoiding the consumption of any liquids for a short period of time.
While the protest encampment was eventually removed by police, the Indian students then took their camp across the street, setting up at St. Paul’s Church.
Their efforts, which quickly attracted mockery on social media, caught the attention of Maxime Bernier, the leader of the right-wing People’s Party of Canada, who flew to Prince Edward Island to engage with the protest leader, Rupinder Pal Singh. Singh’s visa expired in July, but he has not yet been deported.
During an exchange that was circulated on social media, Bernier told Singh that foreign workers were not needed to occupy low-wage service industry jobs – and that those opportunities should be reserved for young Canadians.
Last week, the protest tent that Singh has been staging his residency strike in was set ablaze. During the incident, which occurred during the early morning of August 11, there were four people inside the tent.
The Indian protestors immediately took to their official X account to decry the fire as attempted murder motivated by racism. Tagging the Minister of Immigration, the protestors wrote: “Someone tried to burn us while we were asleep.”
The extraordinary claim immediately attracted ample attention, especially from other immigrant groups who came out in support of the protestors in PEI.
Stand for Immigrant Workers posted an Instagram reel in support of the protestors, writing: “Just recently, someone attempted to harm them. Thankfully, they are safe, but this incident highlights the urgency of the situation. We cannot remain silent while our loved ones face such dangers.”
Charlottetown’s local Member of Parliament, Sean Casey, similarly portrayed the fire as an “act of intimidation” prompted by a “proliferation of online abuse.” Casey’s statement, issued on official governmental letterhead, added that “violence and intimidation have no place in Charlottetown.”
But in a shocking twist, Charlottetown police have now concluded that the tent fire was accidental.
As reported by journalist Christopher Brunet, who has been following the protests in Prince Edward Island closely for weeks, local law enforcement and fire service determined the tent fire was the result of a mosquito repellant coil that had sparked a flame.
Brunet notes that after learning of the revelations, he reached out to a local newspaper that had decried the alleged “hate incident” and requested a retraction, but did not receive a response. However, MP Sean Casey did take to Facebook to update his constituents and walk back his earlier assertions that the fire had been a deliberate attack.
Despite the official investigation finding no external source for the fire, Singh and his group of protestors are continuing to insist they were the victims of a hate crime, naming the suspect as a racist Canadian teenager who had thrown a firecracker inside their tent while they were sleeping.
Curiously, Brunet adds, Singh’s claims about being attacked with a firecracker are not new. In an exclusive report he wrote on the timeline of the incident, Brunet provides screenshots dated July 22 showing Singh reporting that someone had tried to burn his tent with a firecracker – well before the August 11 fire.
Brunet confronted Singh directly on his claims from July 22, but Singh refused to address the substance of the evidence, instead responding “God bless you” with no further reply.
Since the accidental fire, Singh and his protesting colleagues have reportedly been asked to leave the property of St. Paul’s Church.
