Patrick Brown vows in video to end Canada’s ‘terrorist’ designation for Tamil Tigers
The Conservative leadership candidate says he will open immigration to “any Tamil family that wants to come to Canada”.
By Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau
Tue., April 12, 2022
OTTAWA—Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says he will “lift the ban” on a designated terrorist organization known as the Tamil Tigers, open up immigration to “any Tamil family that wants to come to Canada” and, as prime minister, would apologize for Canada’s failure to help Tamil refugees as it has Ukrainians or the Vietnamese boat people.
In a short video viewed by the Star, the Brampton mayor appeals to Tamil community representatives, telling them that he needs their “help” in order to win the leadership of the federal Conservative party, because the people he has to beat “are the same people who put the ban on” the Tamil Tigers.
Brown suggested his sympathies for the Tamil community have led him to be branded by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Canada “as LTTE,” — which stands for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, otherwise known as the Tamil Tigers.
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government was in power when Canada listed the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization in 2006. That designation was reviewed and confirmed by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in 2018.
“The Sri Lankan High Commission tells people that I’m LTTE. Literally, the high commission,” Brown says in the video. “So I’m going to lift the ban. I’m going to cancel the ban. I’m going to give a public apology. I firmly believe that those who are defending loved ones in Sri Lanka against a government that was committing a genocide — it was acts of self-defence against a Sri Lankan government that was acting in a manner that was a modern atrocity. Egregious. War criminals.
“And so that’s why we need a public apology. It’s horrible how Tamils were stereotyped. And rather than it being a symbol of terrorism, the tiger is a symbol of, in my opinion, self-defence against the government committing war crimes.”
Brown is a formidable political organizer, and has styled himself as a defender of religious freedom with his public opposition to Quebec’s Bill 21. In the video, he says “you won’t hear any other politician speaking that frankly.”
He refers to different immigration streams, saying, “ I want to reunite as many Tamil families as possible immediately.”
Brown notes “how quickly” the Canadian government has moved to fast-track Ukrainian refugees, adding, “I’m glad how Canada is helping Ukraine, for where there’s a will there’s a way.
“And so my goal is to make sure every Tamil family that wants to be reunited, and any Tamil family that wants to come to Canada as part of this apology, we’re going to welcome with open arms and say, ‘Sorry (for) what you had to go through.’”
The video is not posted to Brown’s Twitter account, nor is his policy posted on his leadership website.
However, in a statement his campaign sent to the Star attributed to “Mayor Patrick Brown,” the leadership candidate doubled down.
“I have been working on this issue since 2009. Canada and the global community took the wrong side in the Tamil genocide,” Brown said, echoing statements he makes in the video that the Sri Lankan government “has committed heinous war crimes.”
Canada should follow an European Union court ruling in 2017 and “delist the ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). There is no LTTE anymore,” said Brown.
“The war has been over for 13 years. Too many Tamil Canadians continue to be stigmatized due to this ban,” he said, adding it is “unduly affecting family reunification and professional opportunities.”
Brown credited the Ontario government for declaring a Tamil Genocide Education Week. Ontario recognizes that the Sri Lankan state perpetrated genocide against the Tamils “during the civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2009, and especially so in May of 2009.”
The acts included deliberate killings, land grabs and ethnic cleansing.
“The United Nations Organization estimates that in May 2009 alone about 40,000 to 75,000 Tamil civilians were killed. Other estimates place the death toll at 146,679 civilians. These figures only reflect the death toll in 2009 leading up to May 18, the day on which the civil war ended. The loss of Tamil civilian lives during the genocide, which continued for decades in Sri Lanka, is much higher,” Ontario says.
The federal listing of terror organizations says the LTTE, which was founded in 1976, seeks the creation of an independent homeland called “Tamil Eelam” for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority, and has waged a “violent secessionist campaign” using ground, air and naval forces “as well as a dedicated suicide bomber wing.” It cites “terror attacks against civilian centres and political assassinations,” including the killings of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa.
“The LTTE has also had an extensive network of fundraisers, political and propaganda officers and arms procurers operating in Sri Lanka and within the Tamil diaspora. Although the LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009, subversion, destabilization and fundraising continue, particularly in the diaspora,” says the listing.
In the video, Brown says Canada “should have been there” for Tamil refugees “and if I’m prime minister, we will be there. It’s completely unfair that they’d have to go through a more arduous process.”
Brown said he can resolve “all these issues” facing Tamils, “but the only way we do that is if we win this (federal Conservative) leadership — and the people I’m fighting are the same people who put the ban on.”
That appears to be a reference to Pierre Poilievre, the presumptive front-runner in the Conservative leadership race, who, like Brown was a Conservative MP when Harper blacklisted the LTTE. None of the other prospective leadership candidates served in that government.
“I need your help to make sure we change the course of Canadian history,” Brown says in the video. “This will be good for the Tamil community. It will be good for Canada. It’ll be good for the Tamil community outside of Canada as well.”
It is not clear when the three-minute video was made.
A source who insisted on confidentiality said the video is circulating widely on WhatsApp among the Tamil community, but risks stirring up old wounds.
That source suggested it may have been deliberately leaked by Brown’s campaign in the belief that it will help “triple down” on his membership sales effort.
A second source, who also declined to be identified, said Brown’s position appears designed to wedge the Liberal government on immigration and refugee issues.
Brown’s message may rankle some Conservatives, who see themselves as a law-and-order party that is “tough on crime.” But some say it will definitely resonate with many in the Tamil community.
Mohan Ramakrishnan, a director of the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), said in an interview he attended an event in late March in Montreal at which Brown made clear he’d lift the ban, a move Ramakrishnan supports.
NCCT chair Ranjan Sriranjan told the Star he heard Brown speak in Winnipeg, and that “he didn’t hesitate” to make the same comments there.
“I think many people (who) feel the same way as I feel, who feel persecuted, will definitely support him,” said Sriranjan.
“I don’t think any other politician has the guts to come out and say this. I mean, he’s taking a stand which could actually kill him politically.”
Tue., April 12, 2022
OTTAWA—Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says he will “lift the ban” on a designated terrorist organization known as the Tamil Tigers, open up immigration to “any Tamil family that wants to come to Canada” and, as prime minister, would apologize for Canada’s failure to help Tamil refugees as it has Ukrainians or the Vietnamese boat people.
In a short video viewed by the Star, the Brampton mayor appeals to Tamil community representatives, telling them that he needs their “help” in order to win the leadership of the federal Conservative party, because the people he has to beat “are the same people who put the ban on” the Tamil Tigers.
Brown suggested his sympathies for the Tamil community have led him to be branded by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Canada “as LTTE,” — which stands for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, otherwise known as the Tamil Tigers.
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government was in power when Canada listed the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization in 2006. That designation was reviewed and confirmed by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in 2018.
“The Sri Lankan High Commission tells people that I’m LTTE. Literally, the high commission,” Brown says in the video. “So I’m going to lift the ban. I’m going to cancel the ban. I’m going to give a public apology. I firmly believe that those who are defending loved ones in Sri Lanka against a government that was committing a genocide — it was acts of self-defence against a Sri Lankan government that was acting in a manner that was a modern atrocity. Egregious. War criminals.
“And so that’s why we need a public apology. It’s horrible how Tamils were stereotyped. And rather than it being a symbol of terrorism, the tiger is a symbol of, in my opinion, self-defence against the government committing war crimes.”
Brown is a formidable political organizer, and has styled himself as a defender of religious freedom with his public opposition to Quebec’s Bill 21. In the video, he says “you won’t hear any other politician speaking that frankly.”
He refers to different immigration streams, saying, “ I want to reunite as many Tamil families as possible immediately.”
Brown notes “how quickly” the Canadian government has moved to fast-track Ukrainian refugees, adding, “I’m glad how Canada is helping Ukraine, for where there’s a will there’s a way.
“And so my goal is to make sure every Tamil family that wants to be reunited, and any Tamil family that wants to come to Canada as part of this apology, we’re going to welcome with open arms and say, ‘Sorry (for) what you had to go through.’”
The video is not posted to Brown’s Twitter account, nor is his policy posted on his leadership website.
However, in a statement his campaign sent to the Star attributed to “Mayor Patrick Brown,” the leadership candidate doubled down.
“I have been working on this issue since 2009. Canada and the global community took the wrong side in the Tamil genocide,” Brown said, echoing statements he makes in the video that the Sri Lankan government “has committed heinous war crimes.”
Canada should follow an European Union court ruling in 2017 and “delist the ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). There is no LTTE anymore,” said Brown.
“The war has been over for 13 years. Too many Tamil Canadians continue to be stigmatized due to this ban,” he said, adding it is “unduly affecting family reunification and professional opportunities.”
Brown credited the Ontario government for declaring a Tamil Genocide Education Week. Ontario recognizes that the Sri Lankan state perpetrated genocide against the Tamils “during the civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2009, and especially so in May of 2009.”
The acts included deliberate killings, land grabs and ethnic cleansing.
“The United Nations Organization estimates that in May 2009 alone about 40,000 to 75,000 Tamil civilians were killed. Other estimates place the death toll at 146,679 civilians. These figures only reflect the death toll in 2009 leading up to May 18, the day on which the civil war ended. The loss of Tamil civilian lives during the genocide, which continued for decades in Sri Lanka, is much higher,” Ontario says.
The federal listing of terror organizations says the LTTE, which was founded in 1976, seeks the creation of an independent homeland called “Tamil Eelam” for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority, and has waged a “violent secessionist campaign” using ground, air and naval forces “as well as a dedicated suicide bomber wing.” It cites “terror attacks against civilian centres and political assassinations,” including the killings of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa.
“The LTTE has also had an extensive network of fundraisers, political and propaganda officers and arms procurers operating in Sri Lanka and within the Tamil diaspora. Although the LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009, subversion, destabilization and fundraising continue, particularly in the diaspora,” says the listing.
In the video, Brown says Canada “should have been there” for Tamil refugees “and if I’m prime minister, we will be there. It’s completely unfair that they’d have to go through a more arduous process.”
Brown said he can resolve “all these issues” facing Tamils, “but the only way we do that is if we win this (federal Conservative) leadership — and the people I’m fighting are the same people who put the ban on.”
That appears to be a reference to Pierre Poilievre, the presumptive front-runner in the Conservative leadership race, who, like Brown was a Conservative MP when Harper blacklisted the LTTE. None of the other prospective leadership candidates served in that government.
“I need your help to make sure we change the course of Canadian history,” Brown says in the video. “This will be good for the Tamil community. It will be good for Canada. It’ll be good for the Tamil community outside of Canada as well.”
It is not clear when the three-minute video was made.
A source who insisted on confidentiality said the video is circulating widely on WhatsApp among the Tamil community, but risks stirring up old wounds.
That source suggested it may have been deliberately leaked by Brown’s campaign in the belief that it will help “triple down” on his membership sales effort.
A second source, who also declined to be identified, said Brown’s position appears designed to wedge the Liberal government on immigration and refugee issues.
Brown’s message may rankle some Conservatives, who see themselves as a law-and-order party that is “tough on crime.” But some say it will definitely resonate with many in the Tamil community.
Mohan Ramakrishnan, a director of the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), said in an interview he attended an event in late March in Montreal at which Brown made clear he’d lift the ban, a move Ramakrishnan supports.
NCCT chair Ranjan Sriranjan told the Star he heard Brown speak in Winnipeg, and that “he didn’t hesitate” to make the same comments there.
“I think many people (who) feel the same way as I feel, who feel persecuted, will definitely support him,” said Sriranjan.
“I don’t think any other politician has the guts to come out and say this. I mean, he’s taking a stand which could actually kill him politically.”
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