Her Excellency Shelley Whiting
Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dear Shelley Whiting:
I just read the news item in The Island which said: “Canadian High Commissioner Shelley Whiting yesterday said that her country wouldn’t be represented at the Victory Day parade in Matara on Sunday (May 18). The Canadian envoy said that the annual military parade wouldn’t help post war national reconciliation, therefore she shouldn’t accept the government invitation.”
That statement reminded me of what Anne McLellan, then Liberal Minister of Public Safety said to Conservative Senator John Lynch-Staunton at a Senate Committee hearing, why the Liberal’s wasn’t banning the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers). I will come back to it later.
However, what you said on behalf of the Canadian Conservative Government conjured this image of you as a teacher:
The Place: Heart’s Content Middle School, Newfoundland. Ms. Shelley Whiting is the 6th Grade Class teacher. There are 27 students in the class.
Teacher: “Today, during our world socio-political system, we are going to discuss Sri Lanka, which was formerly called Ceylon. Does anyone of you know where Sri Lanka is?”
Student: (Several hands go up and the teacher identifies Marie Harris). “Yes, Marie!” “Miss, that is the little island at the bottom of the southern tip of India, which is normally described as the tear drop of India. This is the island where the best tea comes from.” “Good”, says Teacher Whiting.
Student: (Harold Smallwood puts his right hand up.) “Yes, Harold!” “I am extremely confused, Miss. Didn’t Prime Minister Stephen Harper allocate some 28 million dollars to encourage Canadians to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. Wasn’t this a Canadian victory over the United States? Why the double standard, Miss? Surely to God Miss, as much as we have the right to celebrate our war victories, don’t you see that Sri Lanka too has a right to celebrate their victory over a group of ruthless terrorists? I read somewhere that they were called the Tamil Tigers the most ruthless terrorists in the world.”
Student: (Before Teacher Shelley Whiting could reply to Harold’s query, another hand from student Elaine Bowring along the back row goes up.) “Yes, Elaine” said Miss Whiting. “Miss, this is a perfect example of Canadian hypocrisy, I would say.” “That is a very good observation”, Miss Whiting responds.
Student: (Another student, Bill Salter, throws up his hand.) “Yes, Billy”, says Miss. Whiting. “That business of “reconciliation” is a bit of a ‘red herring’ isn’t it Miss? There is something funny going on between Canada and Sri Lanka. I just cannot put a finger on it. If you agree, can you explain the ramifications to us, please Miss.”
Shelley Whiting
Student: (Before Teacher Whiting could respond Jenny Hicks puts up her hand). “Yes, Jenny” Miss Whiting identifies her.
“Miss, in the World War II Encyclopedia, I also read that Victory flags were flying high all over Canada and church bells were ringing on May 7, 1945. That was the year that my granddad was born. Canadians were celebrating the hard fought battles against the Nazi. So why all this fuss about Sri Lanka celebrating their victory of a 30 year long war with the Tamil Tiger terrorists? It is a bit selfish on Canada’s part. Isn’t it Miss?
There you are Shelley. You bet, this would what exactly will happen to you if you were put in a class room situation with kids across Canada. They are smart. They understand political truth from drivel. And they are smart enough to call your statement, “what piffle, Miss!”
So the fact remains, Shelley, that which ever way you wish to slice the red-herring pie, that the ‘red herring’ is going to jump out and spit at your eyes saying, “stop your hocus-pocus hog-wash about Sri Lanka, Maam!”
Shelley, whether you attend the Victory Parade wearing a Haida printed poncho, with a Klondike diamond necklace around your neck, eagle feathers on your hair and Micmac beaded moccasins on your feet, and for good measure have a Rathika-red thumb print between your eyebrows to appease the Tamil community to identify yourself as Canadian, really doesn’t matter anymore. Sri Lanka knows that we are a hostile country supporting the Tamil Tiger rump’s dream of wanting to dissect that beautiful puny island, my Motherland, that I am having a love affair with. And that is the bottom line, Shelley.
Coming back to the dialogue between Liberal’s Anne McLellan, the Minister of Public Safety and Conservative Senator John Lynch-Staunton which I watched on CPAC on February 14, 2005 was an embarrassing spectacle. Anne was getting red in her face by the minute like a boiling lobster and sometimes looking like Rudolphine the Red Nosed Reindeer doing the Muhammad Ali shuffle, trying to dodge the scrutiny by Senator Lynch-Staunton who took her to task for not listing the Liberal Tigers of Tamil Eelam (aka Tamil Tigers) as terrorists, during the Senate Committee hearing on the Anti-Terrorism Bill C36. This was the exchange between them:
Senator: The Bill allows for the listing of terrorist entities…..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. It is not static. I continue to monitor that situation very closely.
Senator: What more information do you need when you know that the United States, Britain, Malaysia and others have banned them.
McLellan: It was related to me…..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.
Senator: But money is being raised in Canada and shipped over to Sri Lanka to be used for terrorist activities. That is a known fact. That is a known fact, yet the government refuses to put the name where it belongs…on the list of terrorists’ 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.
Shelley, with that weak, yet haughty and arrogant defense in favour of the Tamil Tigers, the Liberal party tightened the noose on my innocent Sinhalese people and painted Bull’s eyes on the backs of all the Sinhalese grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, pregnant mothers and breast sucking infants to be shot at or claymore mined by the Tamil Tigers. And they did. That is how dastardly the Liberals were.
You know what Shelley? Anne McLellan was proved not to be telling the truth when Irvin Cotler, the Liberal Party Minister of Justice told an Editorial Board of a leading newspaper in Toronto a few months later, that the Tamil Tigers were not banned because the Liberals did not want to antagonize that community. Whoopee do! That’s how shameless Canada was then….and now with the Conservatives that you represent, it is no better. And that is the rub.
Sincerely, Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)
From: Daily News. http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=features/canada-s-hocus-pocus-about-sri-lanka-plain-see#sthash.rahcfbqA.dpuf
