By Anmol Alphonso
An old video from October 2022 of Cameron MacKay, High Commissioner for Canada in India visiting the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi is being shared with the false claim that he visited the Golden Temple in Punjab after the recent diplomatic row with India.
Diplomatic tensions escalated between the India and Canada after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on September 19, 2023, alleged a “potential link” being investigated between Indian government agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia, Canada.
This was followed by the expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat in Canada. The Indian government retaliated by summoning Cameron MacKay, High Commissioner for Canada in India on September 19 to inform him that a senior Canadian diplomat was expelled and asked to leave India within five days.
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The viral video was posted by the X (formerly known as Twitter) handle '@_khalistani' with the caption, "Before leaving, the ambassador visited Sri Harmandir Sahib. Paid obeisance or fired shots?"
In the 23 seconds video, a reporter can be heard asking MacKay "How is your government dealing with outfits called Khalistan which known as 'anti-Inda'?" to which he responds, "In Canada we love people of all faiths. All faiths are welcome in Canada."
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The same video is being shared on Facebook with the same misleading claim with a Punjabi caption, "ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਵਾਪਿਸ ਜਾਣ ਤੋਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਹਰਮੰਦਿਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਨਤਮਸਤਕ ਹੋਏ ਕਨੇਡੀਅਨ" (In English: Canadian Ambassador bowed down to Harmandir Sahib before returning to Canada. A big statement..)
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from October 2022 when Cameron MacKay, High Commissioner for Canada in India visited the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi. This is not a recent video of MacKay visiting the Golden Temple in Punjab after the diplomatic row broke out between both the countries.
Taking a hint from the replies stating that it is an old video, we ran a keyword search and found that the original video was tweeted by ANI on October 27, 2022, when MacKay had visited the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi and responded to the reporter's question about Khalistan,
ANI had posted the 27 seconds video with the caption, "Delhi:"In Canada we love people of all faiths. All faiths are welcome in Canada," says High Commissioner for Canada in India Cameron MacKay when asked how is Canadian Govt dealing with Khalistani outfits, action against these outfits & his comment on "referendum" by them."
We can see the same sequence of events playing out in this longer original video.
Canada in India, the official handle of the High Commission of Canada in India had also quoted tweeted this with the caption, "Canada reiterates support for India's sovereignty and territorial integrity." This was also retweeted by MacKay's official X account.
