'Hateful remarks': Sikh group seeks action against Canadian MLA Racquel Hilbert for calling federal leader Jagmeet Singh ‘terrorist’

AMRITSAR: Canada-based World Sikh Organisation (WSO) has sought the removal of Saskatchewan Party MLA Racquel Hilbert from any legislative committee assignments given to her, after she called New Democratic Party (NDP) federal leader Jagmeet Singh a "terrorist" during a debate in Saskatechewan province's legislative assembly on March 25.
Hilbert, MLA from Humboldt-Watrous, issued an apology for her remark on Wednesday, after a local newspaper, Regina Leader-Post, carried a story about her statement. "I recently made an inaccurate and inappropriate statement about the federal NDP leader. I apologize for and withdraw that statement," she said.
A day later, Balpreet Singh Boparai, legal counsel for WSO, said the remarks were "shocking", "offensive", and "represent a clear example of anti-Sikh hate".
He said WSO believed Hilbert should face consequences for her hateful remarks. "At a minimum, we urge Saskatchewan Party to remove her from any committee assignments and to mandate comprehensive anti-racism and cultural sensitivity training for all its members," he added.
Saskatchewan Party is a conservative political party based in the province it is named after.
Boparai said disinformation and hate speech must not be allowed to fester within Canadian political discourse. "Public figures need to be held to the highest standard, and hateful rhetoric should be met with swift consequences," he added.
WSO president Danish Singh called Hilbert's comments "reprehensible" which parroted "disinformation being pushed from India in order to malign Sikhs and suppress legitimate criticism". "At a time when we are seeing rising anti-Sikh hate, these comments are an insult not just to Jagmeet Singh but also contribute to the stigmatisation and marginalisation of Sikh Canadians," he added.
During the debate on the provincial budget on March 25, when she was condemning the Saskatchewan NDP, she turned her comments to Jagmeet and his decision to support the federal govt of former Liberal leader Justin Trudeau through a supply and confidence agreement. "We did not hear the opposition denounce their federal leader as being a terrorist in India and announced the collateral trade damage to Western Canada," Hilbert added.