Asoka WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 Canada

21 January 2012

Chungen Leung, MP, Canadian Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multiculturalism
Joe Daniel, MP, Conservative Member of Parliament for Don Valley East, OntarioƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
Marlene Gallyot, Special Assistant to Joe Daniel for his to Sri Lanka

Dear Chungen, Joe and Marlene:

Re: Visit of Canadian Parliamentarian Delegation to Sri Lanka to assess the post- conflict Reconciliation and Development situation in Sri Lanka (8^th to 11^th January 2012).

I came across by chance the media release of your visit to Sri Lanka which renewed my faith in Sri Lanka-Watching-Canadian-Parliamentarians, and for that I want to say an effusive Thank You.

It is true that once in a life time that one comes across an honest ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”shooting starƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ politician, and I have no hesitation to say you two have entered that realm in my estimation. The last time, it happened to be Stockwell Day, who spearheaded the banning of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers) in April of 2006.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He had the honesty and he had the guts, when for 13 long years the Liberals led by Prime Minister Jean Chretien ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, the Minister of Public Safety, defended the Tamil Tigers for not banning them when 30 odd western nations had banned them, and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ also let the Canadian Tamil Diaspora stuffƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Tamil Tiger war chest with two million dollars a month to purchase explosives and sophisticated arms to kill my Sinhalese people and also the Muslims, like swatting flies in the thousands with claymore mines and suicide bombs.

The Tamil Tigers with the indirect help from the Canadian Liberal government graduated to become one of the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s most sophisticated terrorist groups who perfected suicide bombings developing the sickening body-pack weapon that soon became the favourite ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  extremists in New York, Baghdad, London, Bali, Istanbul, Kabul and elsewhere.

I recall the exchange between Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Conservative Senator John Lynch-Staunton of 14 February 2005, when discussing the Anti-Terrorist Bill before the Senate Committee.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Senator: The Bill allows for the listing of terrorist entitiesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦why are the Tamil Tigers not on that list when they are banned in the United States, Britain and elsewhere?

McLellan: The list is constantly being reviewed and updated.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It is not static.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I continue to monitor that situation very closely.

Senator: What more information do you need when you know that the United States, Britain, Australia, Malaysia, and others have banned them?

McLellan: It was related to meƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦because there was hope for peace talks in Sri Lanka it was hoped that the process would lead to some sort of peace negotiation and it was perceived that it would not be helpful if this country listed the Tigers. But I want to reassure everyone here that I review the organization on a regular basis and I will continue to review that situation.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Senator: But money is being raised in Canada and shipped over to Sri Lanka to be used for terrorist activities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is a known fact.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is a known fact, yet the government refuses to put the name where it belongs ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” on the list of terrorist entities so the government can move in, seize bank accounts and arrest people who continue to support rebels and terrorists.

McLellan: Senator, I take your point.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Watching that exchange on CPAC, it was embarrassing to see her caught with her pants down, so to speak, and her face getting lobster pink by the second and I was frothing mad with the Liberals.

And then when CSIS said in their report ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Canada is recognized as a key base for LTTE fundraising efforts worldwideƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.the money is used by the LTTE to fund its international operations including the purchase of arms and ammunition to continue its terrorist campaign in Sri Lanka,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Liberal Ministers Paul Martin (Finance) and Maria Minna (CIDA) and several other Liberal backbenchers attended the $60-a-plate dinner for the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT), in Toronto on May 6, 2000,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  which had been called a fund raising front for the Tamil Tigers. No doubt, Canada was the curse of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s democracy for the wanting of the 200,000 Tamil votes in the Greater Toronto Area to keep the nine ridings for the Liberal Party.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And I am afraid, your Conservatives too seem to be walking down that ignoble alleyway appeasing the Tamils grovelling for their votes, and I am watching with my hawk eyes and so is Sri Lanka.

What was most significant in your press release was the sentence ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has greatly improved and it was understood that there is no discrimination against the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Chungen, Joe and Marlene, it is obvious that you three took off your blinkers when you stepped onto the tarmac at the Katunayake airport and saw the ground reality clearly and with clarity.

You know doubt are asking yourselves now: ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Why are these Tamils whining saying that they are being discriminated, when 41% of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the population of the capital Colombo are Tamils, and no Sinhalese are asking them to bugger-off to the North which they claim to be their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-homelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚;

WhenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in every four shops, three happen to be owned by Tamils ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ along theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  mile long shopping drag, Main Street in Pettah in the heart of Colombo, and patronized by the majority Sinhalese;

When Tamil children have outnumbered other ethnic kids at International Schools in Colombo and Kandy, south of the Northern border and that form of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ private education is an expensive deal for any Sri Lankan family. Only the rich can afford it;

When 75% of real estate in Wellawatte, a rich suburb of Colombo are owned by Tamils and 95% of them refuse to rent the houses, annexesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and apartments to the majority Sinhalese community, and so far the Sinhalese have not complained.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And I underline the word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-so farƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, in red as I wonder how long the majority Sinhalese are prepared to tolerate that ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ form of ethnic cleansing and discrimination by the Tamils in the heart of the capital Colombo;

When the Tamils are employed in every sector of trade in the south ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” private hospitals, legal sector,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ banking sector, export and import trade, hotel hospitality, garment and beverage industries, you name it and they are there with no difficulty in droves. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Find out whether the majority Sinhalese community has it easy to find employment in the North?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Na! Not a blinking hope.

Your researchers will tell you that the Tamil community (12.6%) were the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-privileged minorityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and the Sinhalese (74%) were the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-wronged majorityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ up to the time of Independence of the island in 1948 and right up to the 1960s, and in some sectors they still are.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  So why are these Tamils whining in the Greater Toronto Area, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is doing his song and dance about the Commonwealth Summit of 2013 which is going to be held in Colombo, andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  External Affairs Minister John Baird did his Nepean Song and DanceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  routine at the UN Security Council on Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  What a lot of nonsense to garner the Tamil votes at the next federal election.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It is a bit sick, isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t it?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The bottom line is, the Sri Lankans couldn’t care two prairie straws whether Canada’s Prime MinisterƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Stephen Harper would attend the Colombo’s Commonwealth Summit in 2013 or not.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It will be a non-issue for them.

Let me conclude this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Thank YouƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ note with one more pointer for you two to convince your Conservative caucus that Tamils are doing fine and have been doing fine in Sri Lanka for donkeyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s years, far better than our Native peoples in reserves and the Blacks in the United States.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the Sinhalese-Tamil riots took place on 24 July 1983, and the Sinhalese got the better of the Tamils after having endured for years of ethnic cleansing in the north with killings, stoning and chasing away 27,000 Sinhalese who lived in the Jaffna peninsula for generations,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the islandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Inspector General of Police (Rudra Rajasingham) was a Tamil and so were six out of ten Deputy Inspectors Generals; The Supreme Court Justice ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (Justice S. Sharvananda) was a Tamil as were several Supreme Court Judges; ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Attorney General (S. Pasupati) was a Tamil; three Cabinet Ministers were Tamils and the diplomatic assignments asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  High Commissioner in Britain, Ambassador for France, Ambassador in Germany and the Ambassador in China were all Tamils.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  You would agree with me that all these appointments would not translate according to my logic into ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tamils were discriminated by the Sinhalese majorityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ would you not?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Go figure out, why these GTA Tamils are whining that they are being discriminated and Prime Minister Harper and Foreign Minister Baird are dancing pulled by the Tamil puppet strings.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And the rookie NDP Tamil MP for Scarborough Rouge-River who only remembers her playing hop-scotch under a mango tree in Jaffna when she was brought over to Canada by her parents at age 5, had the audacity and temerity to go about lambasting the Sri Lankan government and the majority Sinhalese for discriminating her Tamil tribe.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Go figure that one out.

May I repeat myself by saying to you three ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Thank YouƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for not colouring your observations with dab colours on the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka to please the Tamil constituents?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I love honesty and I love fairness, and I love people who promote both these noble qualities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  You bet, I have great admiration for you three from what I read in your Press Release.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe (C11255047)