Learned of Trudeau's allegations against India one hour before public did: British Columbia Premier
Toronto (PTI): The premier of Canada's British Columbia province, where Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed, has said he was not taken into the loop on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations against India and came to know about it only one hour before they came in the public domain.
Premier David Eby's comments came as he met Prime Minister Trudeau on Monday, on a day when some Khalistan supporters held demonstrations outside the Indian missions in Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto.
Tensions flared between India and Canada following Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar, 45, outside a gurdwara in Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India has angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case. India last week asked Canada to crack down on terrorists and anti-India elements operating from its soil and suspended visa services for Canadians.
Eby told CTV News he only learned one hour before the public did about the prime minister's allegation that India may have been involved in the murder.
He said he wants the federal government to share security intelligence with provinces.
"There's a critical need for provinces to be brought into the loop at an earlier stage," CTV News quoted Eby as saying on Monday.
"CSIS (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service), for example, by law is required to only share their intelligence with the federal government, It means that when they brief me which they did that day they can share basically what's in the public domain already, which is not helpful. I can read the newspaper, too," he said.
Following Trudeau's allegations, Eby said he was deeply disturbed and angered by this information.
"I call, yet again, on the federal government to share all relevant information related to any known ongoing foreign interference & transnational organized crime threats with our provincial authorities & our government, so we may act in coordination and protect those at risk," he had said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Trudeau met with Eby.
According to Trudeau's office, the two leaders discussed how all governments can continue working together to improve housing supply and affordability for Canadians.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Eby discussed public safety, including federal legislation to strengthen Canada's bail regime, which was recently passed in the House of Commons. The legislation makes changes to the Criminal Code's bail regime.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Eby agreed to remain in close contact and to continue working together on shared priorities, it said.
Trudeau on Friday said that Canada shared with India "many weeks ago" evidence on the killing of Nijjar and wants New Delhi to commit constructively with Ottawa to establish the facts in the "very serious matter."
When asked about Canada sharing any information in the case with India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said: "No specific information has been shared by Canada on this case, either then or before or after. We have, you know, as we have said, or I think we have made very clear, we are willing to look at any specific information."
Canada's Defence Minister Bill Blair on Sunday voiced concern over the measures taken by India including the suspension of visa services for Canadians and urged New Delhi to cooperate fully in the investigation of the killing of Nijjar to uncover the truth and work together to resolve it in an appropriate way.
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Fact check: Viral ‘Santa drone show’ near Burj Khalifa was fake; Elon Musk also shared video
Dubai: A viral video claiming to show a giant Santa Claus created by thousands of drones near the Burj Khalifa during Christmas celebrations has been debunked as fake. The clarification was reported by Khaleej Times, which confirmed that the clip was created using visual effects and did not depict a real event in Dubai.
The short video, which amassed more than 36 million views across social media platforms, showed what appeared to be a massive Santa figure waving beside the Burj Khalifa. The clip was widely shared with captions suggesting it reflected Dubai’s inclusive and multicultural celebrations. Even Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, shared the video with a heart emoji, further amplifying its reach and lending it unintended credibility.
According to Khaleej Times, the video was originally created in 2023 by UAE-based VFX artist Fawez Zayati. Zayati later clarified on Instagram that the footage was entirely fabricated using visual effects. “I created this video two years ago; it’s fake,” he said, adding humorously that he could create a similar VFX clip featuring Musk if asked.
The video was designed to appear authentic, seemingly filmed from the Souk Al Bahar area near Dubai Mall, with pedestrians visible in the frame. This realism contributed to widespread confusion, despite the creator having initially disclosed that it was a VFX project. Due to backlash and concerns about misinformation, Zayati eventually removed the video and urged users to verify content before sharing it.
Khaleej Times noted that the episode highlights the growing challenge of misinformation in the digital age, particularly as advances in visual effects and artificial intelligence make it easier to create highly realistic but misleading content. The report also pointed to concerns raised by experts following decisions by major tech platforms, including Meta and X, to scale back professional fact-checking teams and rely more heavily on user-driven systems such as Community Notes.
This is how Dubai celebrates Christmas. pic.twitter.com/IfgcShYjTM
— أحمد شريف العامري (@ahhmedshh) December 25, 2025
