Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 Canada

August 17, 2009
To Hon. Maria Minna, Liberal MP for Beaches-East York Hon. John McCallum, Liberal MP for Markham-Unionville John McKay, Liberal MP for Scarborough-Guildwood Andrew Kania, Liberal MP for Brampton West Derek Lee, Liberal MP for Scarborough-Rouge River Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal MP for Don Valley East Michelle Simpson, Liberal MP for Scarborough Southwest

Dear Maria, John MC, John MK, Andrew, Derek, Yasmin and Michelle:

The notice of your presence at the United Tamil Council of Canada (UTCC) fundraiser in the Holiday Inn at Markham in support of Tamil children affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka reached me almost 50 days after the event.

The report posted by Vijay on July 2, stated, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Over 220 invited guests attended the eventƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦The event also had many political luminaries attending the Tamil eventƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, and your names were splashed proudly, almost in chasing lights. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But, what was stark about this report was the absence of the political luminaries from the governing Conservative Party.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Not a single name.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Ding, dong! My mind went into somersaults.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Ummmmm!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Was there a reason for this? If they had been invited, why would they want to miss on the block of Tamil votes at the next federal election by not making at least a token appearance?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That was the million dollar question that I was grappling with.

What intrigues me is that here pops up another non-profit Tamil organization in Canada.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t we have enough? ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is the World Tamil Movement (WTM), Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT), Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Canadian Tamil Congress, Tamils Against Genocide, and there were several others after the Tsunami in December 2004 and some of these post-Tsunami Tamil organizations drew humanitarian-credibility by ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ having Tamils garbed in black robes and white collars starched to heaven, heading them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sure, most of them were charitable to the point that they sustained the terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE aka Tamil Tigers) with the collected funds.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Some have been documented and are on public record and some of their offices were raided by the Canadian police for their Tamil Tiger affiliations.

Perhaps I am cynical, to find a group of Tamils who seem to have a tear-jerking concern about the Tamil children who have been affected by the Tamil separatist conflict now, when they did sweet bugger-all all these years when the Tamil Tigers abducted and recruited Tamil children under 14 years of age and trained them to carry RPGs and AK47s sometimes bigger than themselves to fight on the front lines making them cannon fodder.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  There were 6,500 of them according to UNICEF all wearing their graduating symbol of a cyanide capsule around their necks to bite at if captured by their enemy. Some children were trained to be suicide bombers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Over half of the 388 suicide bombings were conducted by these child soldiers. It certainly didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t matter to these Canadian Tamils then when they were blown to smithereens by pushing their suicide body-pack trigger or getting mowed down by their enemy fire with bleeding bullet holed hearts, like scythed red-poppy fields in Kandahar.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Not a pip-squeak demanding the Tamil Tiger leader Prabhakaran to stop recruiting children as soldiers or demanding that he let go of these child soldiers and watch them running to their parents to be hugged by the circle of their warm arms.

These are the little girls who should have been cradling dolls in their arms rather than AK47s and playing hop-scotch, and the boys running between wickets playing softball cricket with their neighbours or dribble a basket ball on their driveways, like the lucky Canadian-Tamil kids who have been fortunate to have a taste of childhood playing hide and seek or rounders with baseball bats with their friends next door in the suburbs of Scarborough and Markham.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Being a cynic, I refuse to hand out Kleenex tissues to the UTCC Tamils to wipe out their misplaced tears after so long of denial watching the Tamil child soldiers killed and maimed fighting for their ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ adults mythical Eelam in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

Maria, let me roll back the days to May 6, 2000, when you as Minister responsible for CIDA ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and Paul Martin ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Finance Minister, together with several Liberal back benchers attended the $60 a plate fund raiser by the Federation Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to sustain the Tamil Tiger terrorists. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ha! Charity, my foot!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  All of Canada showed their anger with the subsequent public storm of negative opinions which floored each and every one of you Liberals as if you all were caught by a hurricane of Muhammad Ali punches.

Remember how Paul delivered the keynote speech at the event and brought greetings from the then Canadian Liberal Federal Government, and you refused to accept the folly when questioned in parliament by the Canadian Alliance MPs like Stockwell Day and Ted White?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And I recall quite clearly Paul lambasting Stockwell as a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-racistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for questioning him during Question Period.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And the Conservative Leader Joe Clark suggesting that Paul Martin should be more cautious about his dinner companions.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But you all kept waltzing with theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamil Snow Tigers refusing to ban their masters, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the greed for the 100,000 Tamil votes in the GTA.

I was amused and laughed at all of you Liberal Canadian parliamentarians when I read that you went around wishing a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Happy New YearƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ on May 6^th, when the Sinhala & Tamil New Year happened on April 14.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  What a ruse to make you look like a bunch of fools caught up in the web of Tamil deceit, who wanted a reason to collect funds to buy weapons to kill my innocent Sinhalese people back in Sri Lanka.

So we have another fund raiser, for apparently a good cause by another new Canadian Tamil group, and I am sure this wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t be the last.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  No doubt there will another new charitable non-profit Tamil group and another, and another, inviting you all for another good Tamil cause, and there will be no reason why you should not attend these fund raisers as they are the sweeteners to garner the Tamil votes.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  For you all, it really wouldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t matter where the collected funds end up as you politicians are functioning on a survival mode wanting just one more Tamil vote to tip you over your opponents on Election Day.

While I hope for the sake of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  280,000 Tamils who were saved from the clutches ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tamil Tigers who were wiped out ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces on May 18, who are now searching ways for reconciliation with the Sinhalese community and wanting to live in harmony as they did once upon a time, that the future UTCC funds will do nothing to negate and destroy that dream of this community in Sri Lanka to live in peace and get on with their lives, as the Tamil Diaspora living in comfort in foreign lands like Canada ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ have shown their intention to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ continue with the next phase of their Eelam struggle.

Permit me to share my observations before I conclude this letter to you all, as a reality check and an eye opener for you.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  While the report posted by Vijay, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”United Tamil Council of Canada (UTCC) fundraiser for Sri Lanka massive successƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, reported the invited gathering included leaders from the Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Pakistani and Indo-Canadian communities, there was a missing link for ethnic harmony.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They were the leaders from the Sri Lankan Sinhalese community in the GTA.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Of course, not to invite them was certainly the prerogative of the Directors of the UTCC, but did the reason why ever cross your minds?

While the Sinhalese community that I represent have been feverishly raising scores of thousands of dollars ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ towards the wholesome welfare of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the 280,000 ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ rescued Tamil people, we have shown our genuine desire for reconciliation with the Tamil communities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Ninety percent of the funds collected in the GTA for this cause came from the non-Tamil Sri Lankan peoples, and 100% of the thousands of dollars collected in OttawaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Buddhist temple on Heron Road were contributed by the non-Tamil Sri Lankan peoples.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Every cent went to the rehabilitation and comfort of the Tamil IDPs in the North of Sri Lanka and mind you, it would have been easy for us to turn our backs on them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But we didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Such is the reality.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Such has been the urge of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a reconciliation with the Tamil community.

However, Maria, John MC, John MK, Andrew, Derek, Yasmin and Michelle, I hope none of you will ever participate in any Tamil fundraiser as a bunch of amoral rogues as you all did on May 6, 2000, which will contribute to the breaking up of that beautiful puny island of Sri Lanka, because the Tamil Diaspora want it so, to create their mono-ethnic, racist, separate Tamil, Eelam.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  You CanadianƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  parliamentarians have no moral right to participate in such a cock-eyed dream, when you have ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ refused the Province of Quebec ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to separate from the rest of Canada for scores of years. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Not in my life,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ you Liberals told the Quebecois in October 26, 1992, and you continue to keep saying so.

Canada has no place to be smug about ourselves to tell the Sri Lankan Government what to do saying ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We are Holier than ThouƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ when we,

1.Invoked the War Measures Act on October 16, 1970 because the separatist FLQ had popped a few bombs inside MontrealƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s letter boxes, killed Provincial Liberal Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and abducted James Cross, BritainƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Trade Commissioner, and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau rebuffing critics of the deployment of the army by declaring: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t like to see people with helmets and guns.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  All I can say is Go on and Bleed.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚;

2. Starved the Mohawk native Indians to submission by cutting off their supply routes during the Oka crisis in the summer of 1990, exposing in the process the grim undercurrents of racial bigotry;

3. Kicked out French President General Charles De Gaulle unceremoniously from Canada ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ during an official state visit in 1967 for ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the only reason for supporting the Quebec separatists by uttering ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Vive le Quebec LibreƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in front of 100,000 Quebecoise in Montreal;

4. Canada was hauled onto the carpet in 1990 by the UN Human Rights Committee for our continued abuse of the native Lubicon Lake Band.

No wonder why the Sri Lankan Government tells you all to go and fly a kite when you want to meddle with their internal affairs.

Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe