Ira de Silva London, Ontario, Canada

The Editor
The Island
Colombo, Sri Lanka

Dear Sir:

I refer to the interview given by Senator Segal prior to his visit to Sri Lanka as Canada’s special envoy to the Commonwealth. It is heartening to note that Canada will not boycott the forthcoming Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka. Let us hope that Canada will not continue to lead the opposition to the meeting in Colombo. He further states that the Canadian Prime Minister will not attend. It appears that the Prime Minister will not attend because his list of demands of Sri Lanka are not met. It is well known that these demands are been dictated by members of his party led by Ragavan Paranchoty, a well known LTTE supporter, who was a candidate for the Conservative Party at the last election. In other words, Canada’s demands on Sri Lanka are those of the LTTE supporters in Canada so it is not rubbish that the Canadian government goes against Sri Lanka due to the Tamil vote bank.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Senator Segal states that he is coming to Sri Lanka with an “open Mind”. Let us hope so because the last visit by a minister of the current Canadian government who visited Sri Lanka, Mr. Jason Kenney certainly did not have an open mind. His statements clearly showed that he had come to Sri Lanka to promote LTTE supporter’s demands on Sri Lanka and on his return met with the Tamils to report back to them on his success/failure to get Sri Lanka to take Canada’s demands seriously. In his own words he stated on Twitter that he “did Tamil media roundtable to review my recent trip to Sri Lanka” after meeting exclusively with the Tamils led by Paranthoty. Mr. Kenney stated at his meeting with the Tamils in Toronto that his government acted against it’s own domestic interests in “helping” Colombo by banning the LTTE and claiming that because Canada had banned the LTTE, Sri Lanka should now “reciprocate” by doing what Canada wants. Therefore Senator Sagels claim that “we are not of the view that thereƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s any Diaspora pressure on Canada with respect to the positions we are taking” does not ring true. Sri Lanka’s foreign minister was correct when he said “the motivation to punish Sri Lanka is diaspora pressure. It is wrong for some countries to be held hostage to the political fortunes of personalities in other countries. That is entirely contrary to the spirit of the Commonwealth.” LTTE supporters in Canada clearly want to punish Sri Lanka for eliminating the leaders of the LTTE and are doing so through the Canadian governmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that is pandering to their demands based on domestic politics asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ confirmed by Mr. Kenney. Therefore Canada, by becoming the mouthpiece for the LTTE, is acting contrary to the spirit of the Commonwealth.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “The government of Canada does not enjoy or has not enjoyed any particular support from the Tamil community,” he said. Perhaps that is why Mr. Kenney meets exclusively with the Tamil community after his visit to Sri Lanka and reports back to them. Further, he openly canvasses the Tamil vote at elections. He seems unaware that there are non-LTTE voters in Canada and that by his actions he will ensure that the Conservatives will not get their vote at future elections. Even the prime minister has made statements regarding his attendance at Commonwealth meetings after having discussions withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  LTTE supporters in Toronto which fact was reported in the media. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let us hope that Senator Segal who says that he is coming as a friend, acts as a friend. At least he is aware that there are communities other than the TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ from Sri Lanka living in Canada which is a start.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mr. Segal states that “Canada takes its opposition to terrorism including the LTTEƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  extremely seriously” yet it is an established fact that for two decades successive Canadian governments turned a blind eye to fundraising for ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the LTTE in Canada and that two million dollars a month were sent to the LTTE from Canada to terrorise Sri Lanka. Politicians attended fundraising events for the LTTE and provided political support to the LTTE both in parliament and out of parliament which is hardly taking the terrorism of the LTTE seriously.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is a relief that Mr. SegalƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  states “I do not have any view as to what the internal decisions are or should be of the GOSL. ThatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s for the people of Sri Lanka and the government to determine on their own”. Perhaps he should convey this principle to his colleagues in the Canadian governmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and other political parties so that they will not continue theirƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ campaignƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ against Sri Lanka based on ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Canadian politics and realise thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ decisions for Sri Lanka should be based on what Sri Lankans want and not by citizens and governments of other countries. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Yours truly,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ira de Silva

London, Ontario, CanadaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚