CPC Candidate Don Patel's Online Activity Raises Foreign Interference Concerns
"Baaz has reviewed social media content indicating that Patel engaged with posts promoting Indian surveillance of Sikh Canadians..."
Jaskaran Sandhu
April 2, 2025 | 2.5 min. read | Original Reporting
UPDATE: The CPC responded to Baaz inquiries with the following:
“This social media activity is unacceptable. Don Patel is no longer a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada” and “Endorsing such a statement is clearly unacceptable. The Conservative Party will always stand up for the safety and security of Canadians. The individual is no longer a candidate.”
As Canadians prepare to vote in the upcoming general elections, questions are emerging about the Conservative Party of Canada’s (CPC) vetting process following revelations concerning Don Patel, the party’s candidate in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North.
Baaz has reviewed social media content indicating that Patel engaged with posts promoting Indian surveillance of Sikh Canadians supportive of the Khalistan movement and endorsing efforts to share such information with the Indian Consulate - activities that Canadian officials and the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference have identified as forms of foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada.
Equally concerning are Patel’s associations with former Consul General of India, Siddhartha Nath, one of six Indian diplomats expelled from Canada in October 2024 following an RCMP investigation into Indian transnational repression on Canadian soil. Canadian authorities found that India, through its intelligence-criminal gang nexus, as well as its consulates, orchestrated arsons, homicides, extortions, and assassinations targeting the Sikh Canadian community.
Despite the expulsion, Patel shared a photo on December 30, 2024, after he had been appointed as the CPC candidate for Etobicoke North in October 2024, and after Nath had been listed as one of the diplomats removed from the country, of himself on stage with Nath.
This followed an earlier post with the Consul General on January 22, 2024 - months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau disclosed in September 2023 that Canadian intelligence believed Indian government agents were involved in the assassination of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.
At the time of the January event, Mr. Patel had not yet secured the Conservative nomination but was seeking it.
Patel has also interacted online with posts that endorsed extrajudicial violence against Canadians critical of the Modi government.
His pro-India and pro-Modi political leanings extend back several years.
In 2019, Patel co-organized a car rally in the Greater Toronto Area to celebrate the BJP’s election victory in India. The BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been the subject of international scrutiny over its promotion of Hindu Nationalism, democratic backsliding, and persecution of minorities. Modi’s second-in-command, the BJP’s Amit Shah, is believed to have organized India’s transnational repression program in the West.
Questions were also sent directly to Patel, which have gone unanswered at the time of publication. However, he has deleted posts.
Jaskaran Sandhu hails from Brampton, Canada, and is the co-founder of Baaz. He is a Strategist at the public affairs and relations agency State Strategy and a lawyer. Jaskaran also previously served as Executive Director for the World Sikh Organization of Canada and as a Senior Advisor to Brampton’s Office of the Mayor. You can find Jaskaran on Twitter at @JaskaranSandhu_
Baaz is home to opinions, analysis, and original reporting for the Sikh and Punjabi diaspora. Support us by subscribing. Find us on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky at @BaazNewsOrg. If you would like to submit a written piece for consideration please email us at editor@baaznews.org.