Vancouver: Pressure is intensifying on Canadian lawmakers to treat the wave of extortion sweeping British Columbia as an act of terrorism, as the crisis expands to include threats against lawyers and members of the Punjabi diaspora who have already been disproportionately affected.
Concerns reached a new level on November 14 when the Law Society of British Columbia issued an urgent warning to its members, alerting them to a spate of threatening messages demanding large payouts and promising retaliation if ignored. The notice underscored a development that legal experts say signals a dangerous evolution in an already volatile situation.
Conservative MLA Steve Kooner, who also practises law, took to social media to condemn the trend, calling it “a chilling escalation.” He argued that intimidation directed at lawyers — “officers of the court,” as he described them — should be treated not merely as crime but as an assault on democratic institutions. In a subsequent statement, he urged the federal government to formally classify extortion as a terrorism offence under the Criminal Code.
The Law Society encouraged affected members to immediately contact police and noted that details could be shared with British Columbia’s recently created Extortion Task Force. Privacy rules prevented disclosure of exact locations or identities of targeted lawyers.
The RCMP, through spokesperson Vanessa Munn, confirmed it is aware of the threats but stopped short of confirming whether lawyers are among active investigations. “Anyone being threatened for money should refuse payment and report the matter immediately,” she said.
A Crisis Years in the Making
British Columbia has been grappling with extortion since late 2023, but the situation ballooned through 2024 and exploded in 2025. By November, more than 100 cases had been reported across the province — with the bulk concentrated in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Police say the schemes typically involve criminals using encrypted apps such as Instagram to demand “protection money” in cryptocurrency. When targets fail to comply, threats frequently escalate into arson attempts, property damage, and drive-by shootings.
The violence has been especially acute in communities with large Punjabi populations. Surrey RCMP alone has logged 95 extortion files and 45 shootings this year. Nearby Abbotsford reported 40 cases by late September, including five shootings in a single month.
The problem first drew national attention in July 2023 when gunmen fired at the B.C. home of Punjabi artist AP Dhillon, with investigators linking the attack to extortion threats from India’s Bishnoi gang. Since then, similar patterns have emerged in Ontario’s Greater Toronto Area, affecting South Asian–owned businesses.
Punjabi Victims and Punjabi Perpetrators
While members of B.C.’s Punjabi community have been frequently targeted — often business owners in trucking, real estate, retail, or hospitality — many of the suspects also share Punjabi origins. Police believe several networks operating in B.C. maintain ties to gangs in Punjab and Haryana, including the Bishnoi group, which Canada designated a terrorist organization earlier this year.
Federal RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said on October 21 that investigators have evidence of foreign operatives connected to India directing some of the violence inside Canada. Families such as that of Surrey temple leader Satish Kumar and businessman Arshdeep Singh Arora have gone public with their fears, urging authorities to act.
Arora survived an attempted arson attack in August and later received a social-media death threat declaring, “You have three days … we will kill you.” His case echoed many others that have rattled the province’s South Asian population.
On November 7, the Canada Border Services Agency deported three foreign nationals for their alleged involvement in extortion networks. CBSA’s Nina Patel said their removal was part of an intensified effort to eject individuals who “abuse the immigration system and endanger communities.”
Government Response Expands
The province and federal government have launched several initiatives to confront the crisis. In June, BC Crime Stoppers ran a multilingual reporting campaign funded by federal anti-gang resources. The most significant step came with the September 17 launch of the BC Extortion Task Force — a 40-member unit drawing personnel from the RCMP, municipal police agencies, the CFSEU-BC anti-gang squad, transit police, and the CBSA.
Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger said the task force will coordinate investigations across British Columbia, backed by $100 million in provincial gang-reduction funding and $11 million from Ottawa for the 2025–26 fiscal year.
As politicians debate whether extortion should be elevated to a terrorism classification, fear continues to ripple through communities, especially among Punjabis who remain both the primary targets and, in some cases, the alleged perpetrators. For now, authorities say they are bracing for “a long fight” against what has become one of B.C.’s most complex organized-crime threats in years.
