The India-based Bishnoi gang, accused last year by the RCMP of orchestrating a campaign of violence and intimidation against Sikh activists in Canada, has been listed as a terrorist entity by the federal government.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced the designation in a news release Monday, saying it will help Canadian security, intelligence and police agencies.

"The Bishnoi gang engages in murder, shootings and arson, and generates terror through extortion and intimidation," the release said. "They create a climate of insecurity in these communities by targeting them, their prominent community members, businesses, and cultural figures."

But one expert says the terrorism listing process has become overly politicized, noting the gang does not meet the legal definition of terrorism and listing it as such is a "slippery slope."

British Columbia Premier David Eby, a New Democrat, called for a terrorist designation in June, followed in July by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and in August by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

The new designation allows authorities to seize property and freeze accounts.

The listing bars Canadians from financing or aiding the group led by Lawrence Bishnoi, the gang's leader in India who has reportedly co-ordinated criminal activities from a cellphone inside a prison.

The gang rose to national prominence in Canada on Thanksgiving weekend of last year, when the RCMP accused the Bishnoi gang of orchestrating violent crimes against Canadian Sikhs calling for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India under the name Khalistan.

Police in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia have made similar claims dating back to at least 2023.

They claimed Indian diplomats shared information about Khalistan supporters in Canada with officials in New Delhi, who then passed along the information to the Bishnoi gang.

India's government has rejected those claims, and says it has been working with Ottawa to try to stop the gang's money from flowing into Canada.

Leah West, an associate professor of national security law at Carleton University, said listing a group as a terrorist entity changes police powers around warrants and may mean including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in such investigations. 

But the biggest change is that it expands the scope of potential criminal activity to include anyone who may aid in facilitating the crime, she said. 

It widens the net of what is considered criminal around the group and advances the scope of people that can be investigated, she said. 

"It also is intended to deter people from providing services or supporting the terrorist group in any way."

She said she is concerned about the over politicization of listing groups as terror entities as it "unlocks that entire criminal process."

"I can't reiterate enough the slippery slope we're on," she said in an interview Monday. 

There are currently 88 entities listed as terrorist groups in Canada. 

"The last number of groups listed have come from calls from the floor of the House of Commons, saying we need to designate these groups and, in this instance, I've seen no evidence to support that the gang merits a terrorist entity designation," West said.

She said the government is diluting the tools used to deal with what is the "very grave problem of terrorism."

Eby said in a video statement on Monday that the change will give police the tools they need to seize the assets of these gangs and their members. 

"People have been living in fear of extortion. This is an important move that could make our streets safer. I hope the police are able to use these tools quickly to take action in our community and right across the whole country," he said. 

Poilievre said the gang is responsible for much of the extortion that has terrorized Surrey, B.C., Brampton, Ont., and northeast Calgary. 

He said more needs to be done to stop them and he blames the Liberal government for letting the criminals into the country. 

"Repeal the Liberal crime laws, bring in mandatory prison sentences to lock up extortionists, let us deport from our country every single foreign criminal, track them down, kick them out and let's bring peace and security to the wonderful business owners in Surrey, Brampton and northeast Calgary." 

The move comes as Canada and India work to gradually re-establish trust in their diplomatic relations, after nearly two years of strain.

In September 2023, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that Canada had "credible" evidence New Delhi played a role in the June 2023 assassination of a Sikh activist near Vancouver.

In October 2024, the relationship fractured further when the RCMP said it had strong evidence linking the "highest levels" of the Indian government to a campaign of violence and intimidation against Canadians through the Bishnoi gang.

Following that revelation, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the high commissioner, and India responded by expelling the same number of Canadians.

India has claimed that Canada is allowing Sikh extremists to threaten and commit violence in both countries, saying Ottawa hasn't done enough to stop a repeat of the 1984 Air India bombing. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney has sought to gradually re-establish relations with India, with law-enforcement talks playing a key role in rebuilding trust between the two countries.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand met her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the United Nations in New York on Monday. 

Jaishankar said on the social media platform X that it was "a good meeting" after both countries appointed their top envoys.

"The appointment of high commissioners is welcome as we rebuild ties," the post said, adding that they "discussed further steps in that regard" ahead of Anand's scheduled visit to New Delhi and China next month.

Moninder Singh, the national spokesperson for the Sikh Federation (Canada), said in a statement Monday that the designation "will have little impact on its own and remain a meaningless gesture until the Indian government officials responsible for orchestrating widespread violence in Canada are held to account.”

"The government must outline what steps it has taken to ensure that Indian officials are held responsible for their crimes and do not take part in any future violent attacks, other forms of transnational repression and intimidation, or foreign interference in Canadian policy making or political processes," Singh said in the statement. 

Monday's terror listing surrounds the organization led by Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been imprisoned in India for nearly a decade on charges of widespread involvement in gang violence.

In 2023, India's counterterrorism body, the National Investigation Agency, said the 32-year-old operates his "terror-syndicate from jails in different states" in India and through an associate in Canada.

Multiple Indian media outlets have reported Bishnoi sent tens of thousands of dollars in money transfers from India to both Canada and Thailand between 2019 and 2021. The Canadian Press could not verify that reporting.

Bishnoi is infamous for threatening to kill beloved Indian celebrities, political figures and business leaders. In 2022, he was accused of being behind the shooting death of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, who lived briefly in Canada.

– Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

With files from Brieanna Charlebois in Vancouver.