Maxime Bernier, the People's Party of Canada leader, has suggested that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot outside a gurdwara in Surrey in 2023, was a "foreign terrorist" rather than a Canadian. Bernier alleged Nijjar used fake documents to seek refuge in Canada multiple times beginning in 1997.

In a post on X, Bernier stated that Nijjar, like many other false asylum applicants in Canada, should have been deported for his fraudulent asylum claims. He also asked that Nijjar's citizenship be withdrawn posthumously to address the administrative blunder, reported ANI.