LankaWeb Weekly Editorial

Decemcer 13rd 2011

In a manner indicative of sense and sensibility prevailing Canada has revoked yet another so called Tamil Charity in addition to the ones previously disbanded and outlawed and this augurs well for Canada’s awareness of the ongoing attempts of Tamil Tiger sympathisers to revive former terrorist activities under the guise of benevolence and charity

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has officially set in place the motion of revoking the charitable registration of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation (the Foundation), a Toronto-area charity which is really another name for a front for the Tamil Tigers now gone underground after the Canadian Law Enforcement Agrencies houned them and broke up their operations. The notice of revocation will be published in the Canada Gazette with an effective date of December 10, 2011 and unlike previous Administrations the present Conservative Government has stood firm and been very perceptive in identifying these false fronts.

On November 7, 2011, the CRA issued a notice of intention to revoke the charitable registration of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation, in accordance with subsection 168(1) of the Income Tax Act (the Act). The letter stated, in part, that:

On the basis of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audit, we have concluded that the Foundation has ceased to comply with the requirements of the Act for its continued registration in that it: failed to maintain adequate books and records; improperly issued tax receipts on behalf of a third party; failed to maintain adequate direction and control over the use of its funds; and provided funding to non-qualified donees outside Canada.

This funding included $722,390 provided to organizations which, on the basis of publicly available information detailed in our letter of November 19, 2009, the CRA believes operate as part of the support network for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE), a listed entity under the United Nations Suppression of Terrorism Regulations and the Criminal Code of Canada.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Quoting from a recent media release “The notice of intention to revoke and other letters relating to the grounds for revocation are available to the public on request, in the language they were originally written, by calling 1-800-267-2384.

A charity that has had its charitable status revoked can no longer issue donation receipts for income tax purposes and is no longer a qualified donee under the Income Tax Act. The organization is no longer exempt from income tax, unless it qualifies as a non-profit organization, and it may be subject to a tax equal to the full value of its remaining assets.

Registered charities in Canada perform valuable work in our communities, and Canadians support this work in many ways. The CRA regulates registered charities through the Income Tax Act and is committed to ensuring that charities operate in compliance with the law. Where a registered charity is found not to comply with its legal requirements, the CRA may apply monetary penalties or may suspend or revoke the charity’s status under the Income Tax Act.

The Government of Canada has made it very clear that it will not tolerate the abuse of the registration system for charities to provide any means of support to terrorism, and that the tax advantages of charitable registration should not be extended to an organization where its resources may, directly or indirectly, provide any means of support for, or benefit to, an organization listed under the United Nations Suppression of Terrorism Regulations or the Criminal Code of Canada, or to any other body engaged in terrorism. For more information, see the Checklist for Charities on Avoiding Terrorist Abuse at www.cra.gc.ca/checklists or www.cra.gc.ca/charities. ” end of quote.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It seems somewhat of a pity that Canada despite this stand on such organizations just recently started to finger point at the Sri Lankan Government for reasons some analysts believe is coercion by certain pro Tamil sympathetic sources within the caucases of the ruling party and all the fuss and bother that cropped up needlessly where the canadian prime minister called for a change of venue for the Commonwealth Minister’s conference as well as resorted to rhetoric which sounded as though he believed Sri Lanka had no right to the actions taken to defend her Sovereignity and Territorial Integrity albeit misguidedly perhaps!

This could well have been based on all the cooked up documentation and falsely portrayed innuendo against the Armed Forces which was proven as graphically created and loaded with lies where the attrocities in question which seems to have spurred on the Canadian Government was splashed all over the world and under the auspices of the Australian media TV Channel 4 and picked up by sources such as the BBC who seemed to jump to the opportunity to rebroadcast it.

Despite all the hoopla and hype of the false presentations which they were tantamount to, nothing has really come of it as there are many countries which have supported Sri Lanka’s actions as a legitimate right and hopefully Canada too will soon see the realities related and in having outlawed the operational fronts of the now defunct Tamil Tigers will change the finger pointing at the Sri Lanka Government to one of praise and encouragement of a precedent setting action by the Nation’s leaders to rid the Nation of dangerous terrorists and accept what the world has come to see as a tremendous service to the global community!

And in this context it may well be said in no uncertain terms that Canada Has Shown Good Faith Towards the Realities That Fuel Tamil Tiger Sympathies Through Fronts In Canada And Next On The Agenda Should Be To Desist Accusing The Government Of War Crimes!