The Ottawa City Committee has officially approved the ‘Safe Access to Social Infrastructure Bylaw,’ establishing a 50-meter safe zone around the entrance and exit of schools, childcare centers, hospitals, and crucially: places of worship. Ottawa’s new “bubble zone” bylaw is set to come into effect on August 1, 2026, after @ottawacity council approval, providing a vital tool towards the safety of Hindu temples.
The committee’s 15 to 2 vote reflects a strong commitment to public safety and religious freedom. The Hindu voice was heard loud and clear at City Hall. Out of 40 total delegations, 11 were led by Hindu Canadians, a powerful testament to our community's civic engagement and commitment to the rule of law. CoHNA, along-with COHHE, OFIC, Canadian Hindu Alliance, and numerous community leaders provided vital deputations.
Ottawa joins a growing list of Ontario cities, including Brampton, Vaughan, and Toronto, that have implemented similar protections, Calgary, Alberta, also has a "Safe Access to Public Spaces" bylaw to enforce 100-meter zones around community hubs like libraries and recreation centers.
British Columbia has set a precedent at the state level, with the Safe Access to Places of Public Worship Act (2026), which establishes a standardized 20-meter zone around religious buildings and allows police to make warrantless arrests for harassment or intimidation. Quebec has introduced Bill 9 to reinforce secularism in public squares, explicitly including provisions to prohibit interference with access to places of worship. This growing patchwork of legislation across the jurisdictions demonstrates a clear shift toward prioritizing the safety and accessibility of vulnerable social and religious infrastructure.
While some temples have previously been forced to seek expensive and time-consuming court injunctions to keep protesters at bay, these bylaws provide a proactive legal framework to protect our places of worship We have already seen the impact in Brampton, where similar buffer zones successfully moved Khalistani extremists across the street, vs standing right at the gate intimidating devotees entering the temple, as they did on 3rd Nov 2024 when Khalistani Extremists were emboldened to invade temples and attack the devotees inside with poles.
More cities and provinces should take these measures so that sacred spaces are protected.
CoHNA led a meeting today with @WindsorPolice and @LaSallePoliceON, joined by @cohheofficial, @hindulegacy, and @CanadaHinduVote, following the murder of Windsor resident Nancy Grewal who was an outspoken critic of Khalistani extremism.
While investigations continue, it is indisputable that our community is shaken, and our sense of security shattered. We shared our concerns, our lived experiences, and the growing sense of fear within our community. The discussion focused on the multi-layered threat environment, including ideologically motivated intimidation and online-to-offline mobilization that has led to a significant trust deficit between residents and law enforcement.
We emphasized the need to shift policing from reactive containment to proactive deterrence. Our meeting focused on enhancing bias recognition through training for frontline officers and tackling the systemic under-classification of religiously targeted incidents.
A primary outcome would be the development of community-led capacity-building programs designed to improve hate crime and hate incident reporting. Further, the establishment of a liaison framework will enable the early identification of escalation signals, particularly those transitioning from the online world to physical threats.
There is, of course, much more work to be done to re-build confidence. We thank Windsor Police, LaSalle Police, and @OPP and look forward to continued engagement.
Khalistani extremism is a Canadian public-safety and rule-of-law issue with a long domestic record. Canada was the site of the planning, financing, and execution of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, the deadliest act of terrorism in Canadian history. It killed 329 innocent people -268 of them Canadians and it exposed deep failures in intelligence, policing, and political will.
Canada formally banned Khalistani terrorist organizations including Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation. These designations reflect legal judgments about domestic violence and threat, not political opinion or foreign influence.
Canadian authorities have repeatedly identified Khalistani-linked networks operating on our soil. Canadian Security Intelligence Service has publicly acknowledged the ongoing threat posed by violent extremism connected to Khalistani ideology.
Yet despite this, networks and affiliates associated with banned groups continue to operate openly, exploiting Canada’s democratic freedoms, legal protections, and political openness to sanitize its violent history, intimidate critics, and advance a transnational agenda within Canada. This is the consequence of a persistent gap between designation and enforcement.
That gap has real victims. Canada has seen public campaigns to silence Khalistani critics, and to vandalise and assault Hindu temples. Canadian streets and suburbs resound with death threats against community leaders, and public rallies where individuals with histories of violence are normalized or even celebrated. These are Canadian victims, Canadian institutions, Canadian streets, and Canadian consequences. Treating Khalistani extremism as someone else’s problem has already proven catastrophic once. It is, by every legal and factual measure, a Canadian issue that demands Canadian accountability.
Important and hard hitting conversation on the horrific Human Rights situation in Bangladesh. Thank you Honorable MP @shuvmajumdar for taking time to elevate the voices of helpless and silenced victims like #DipuChandraDas.
Canada’s first hijabi MP, Salma Zahid, promotes World Hijab Day and encourages women and girls to wear a hijab. Recently, she petitioned the government to admit members of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, linked to terrorism and the Muslim Brotherhood. Hardly anyone blinked.
My latest on how Canada normalizes extremism.
https://t.co/JJ5mXCMyTG
Hindu advocacy in Canada, recently secured a major win in Parliament. An amendment to proposed Bill C-9, removed the word Swastika in referring to Nazi emblems, replacing it with the historically accurate term “Nazi Hakenkreuz.”
In a conversation with @SreeIyer1 we hear from the leaders who helped lead an interfaith campaign to galvanize the community.
Thanks @pGurus1 for showcasing how advocacy works.🙏🏿 Watch, like , share.
https://t.co/lXEyKXQU9R
Thank you @ShuvMajumdar for your moral clarity and leadership in speaking out against the horrific violence targeting religious minorities in Bangladesh.
The brutal lynching of Dipu Chandra Das and the thousands of documented attacks on Hindus and other minorities since August 2024 demand urgent action and accountability from the Yunus government.
We, as Canadian Hindus, call upon our government to strongly condemn these attacks and advocate for the safety of all religious minorities in Bangladesh. Our leaders must stand up for human rights and religious freedom without equivocation.
The murder of Dipu Chandra Das shows the danger of weaponizing so called “blasphemy”. No one should face persecution for their faith.
A 17-year-old Christian girl, Hannah, was publicly kidnapped by radical Islamists in Pakistan for refusing to convert to Islam and marry a 46-year-old Maulana’s son. Social groups raising their voice are now being threatened by police and Islamist outfits.
Heartbreaking cries of mother & father of #DipuChandraDas who was burnt alive for saying "Bhagavan and Allah are same one God". Tonight please pray for Bangladeshi Hindus as world has abandoned them 🙏
They threw out Sheikh Hasina, and what they replaced her regime with is chaos and barbaric violence. In 24 hours media houses have been vandalised and burned, minorities lynched and burned alive. Horrific
When they can’t counter facts with logic, they resort to personal attacks, slurs & defamation.
They 🎯 families to exposes their desperation.
This isn’t the first attack & won’t be the last.
Addressing it appropriately
@PierrePoilievre@MarkJCarney@rcmpgrcpolice@csiscanada
When Khalistanis are challenged with facts, or when one tries to hold them accountable, they do not respond with evidence. They resort to character assassination and smear campaigns that include vicious attacks on families. The goal is to scare their critics into silence. They have been using such tactics for a long time.
Such serious allegations must be investigated by law enforcement authorities, not adjudicated by online mobs.
No one should be targeted for speaking out against extremism. No one’s family should be dragged into the political crosshairs. And no community should be expected to normalize these tactics.
CoHNA stands with @WaliRuchi ji and those who refuse to be bullied into silence.
This unfounded, slanderous attack on @WaliRuchi is despicable. The people who keep saying ‘It’s hard for women to be active in politics’ need to speak up.
The account that posted this garbage is based in the US. I hope someone can guide her as to the legal action possible.
Keean says this "One more step towards the Indian colonization of Canada." I don't know if I should laugh or cry. The Indians in Canada will be like "yo when did we become the colonizers?" The funny thing is this person is a Khalistani who hates to be called Indian.