TORONTO - A Conservative government would add the Tamil Tigers to Canada's list of outlawed terrorist groups, deputy leader and public safety critic Peter MacKay said yesterday.
"The short answer is yes," he said when asked by the National Post if the Tamil Tigers would be listed if the government changed on Monday. "We would list them."
The Conservative party would also act swiftly to deport accused terrorists such as alleged former Tamil Tiger fundraiser Manickavasagam Suresh.
Mr. Suresh was arrested for deportation 10 years ago, but still lives near Toronto.
"In fact, we have in our platform that there's a need to move quickly on the reduction of the backlog that is there right now for unexecuted deportation orders, including Suresh," he said.
Mr. MacKay made the comments hours before the Canadian Tamil Congress was to host an all-candidates meeting in Scarborough, home to a large concentration of Tamil-Canadians, some of whom are sympathetic to the Tigers and call Mr. Suresh a political prisoner.
But Mr. MacKay said "we draw a very distinct line between the Tamil community, who are extremely peace-loving, productive members of society, and this very small terrorist group that has been listed, as I understand it, by many of our traditional allies, including the U.S. and the U.K.
"I think we have to be definitive in saying that we certainly support the Tamil community, but there is a very clear and distinct line that has to be drawn when it comes to terrorist fundraising that we feel is happening in Canada right now, based on CSIS reports."
National security has barely been mentioned during the election campaign. The Conservatives have pledged to end what they consider the Liberals' neglect of Canada's security responsibilities, while the Liberals are running on their track record of reforms introduced after 9/11.
The Anti-Terrorism Act allows Cabinet to compile a list of "entities" it deems to be involved in terrorism. Those on the list are subject to criminal sanctions. Thirty-eight groups have been listed so far, ranging from al-Qaeda to Hamas to Ansar al-Islam in Iraq.
A Canadian Security Intelligence Service recommendation to add the Tigers to the list has gone to Cabinet on several occasions but has been rejected each time.
The Tigers are one of the most active terror groups in Canada and the government's reluctance to ban them has become a source of frustration for police and intelligence investigators trying to stop terrorists from using Canada as a base for supporting overseas violence.
Also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, the Tamil Tigers are a rebel group fighting for an independent state for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. They are also one of the world's leading practitioners of suicide bombing. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is listed on the Interpol Web site as wanted for murder, organized crime, terrorism and terrorism conspiracy.
Canadian police and intelligence agencies say the Tigers operate a series of front organizations and front companies in Canada that raise money and engage in lobbying to sustain the LTTE's campaign of violence.
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said last February that Canada did not want to take any action that could be counter-productive to Sri Lanka's Norwegian-brokered peace process, but Mr. MacKay called that an excuse. "CSIS has reports that have called upon the government to list the Tigers, but the age-old excuse that has been given is that it might somehow upset the fragile peace process in Sri Lanka," Mr. MacKay said. "I think we're overstating our own influence if that's the excuse that we're relying upon."
Intelligence reports estimate the Tigers were getting $10-million a year from Canada at one point. The open collection of money declined after a ceasefire was declared in 2002, but some in the Sri Lankan community are reporting a resurgence of fundraising and extortion efforts in anticipation of a return to war.
Last year, Sri Lanka's foreign minister was assassinated in a sniper attack the government blames on the Tigers. Several recent bombings targeting the Sri Lankan military have likewise been attributed to the Tigers. Supporters of the LTTE, who regularly hold large rallies in Toronto, argue that Tamils have no choice but to fight because of the way the country's Sinhalese majority has historically treated them.
A slide presentation circulated on the Internet early in the election campaign urged Sri Lankan Canadians to vote Conservative because "many countries banned LTTE" but the "Liberals did not."
Link
"The short answer is yes," he said when asked by the National Post if the Tamil Tigers would be listed if the government changed on Monday. "We would list them."
The Conservative party would also act swiftly to deport accused terrorists such as alleged former Tamil Tiger fundraiser Manickavasagam Suresh.
Mr. Suresh was arrested for deportation 10 years ago, but still lives near Toronto.
"In fact, we have in our platform that there's a need to move quickly on the reduction of the backlog that is there right now for unexecuted deportation orders, including Suresh," he said.
Mr. MacKay made the comments hours before the Canadian Tamil Congress was to host an all-candidates meeting in Scarborough, home to a large concentration of Tamil-Canadians, some of whom are sympathetic to the Tigers and call Mr. Suresh a political prisoner.
But Mr. MacKay said "we draw a very distinct line between the Tamil community, who are extremely peace-loving, productive members of society, and this very small terrorist group that has been listed, as I understand it, by many of our traditional allies, including the U.S. and the U.K.
"I think we have to be definitive in saying that we certainly support the Tamil community, but there is a very clear and distinct line that has to be drawn when it comes to terrorist fundraising that we feel is happening in Canada right now, based on CSIS reports."
National security has barely been mentioned during the election campaign. The Conservatives have pledged to end what they consider the Liberals' neglect of Canada's security responsibilities, while the Liberals are running on their track record of reforms introduced after 9/11.
The Anti-Terrorism Act allows Cabinet to compile a list of "entities" it deems to be involved in terrorism. Those on the list are subject to criminal sanctions. Thirty-eight groups have been listed so far, ranging from al-Qaeda to Hamas to Ansar al-Islam in Iraq.
A Canadian Security Intelligence Service recommendation to add the Tigers to the list has gone to Cabinet on several occasions but has been rejected each time.
The Tigers are one of the most active terror groups in Canada and the government's reluctance to ban them has become a source of frustration for police and intelligence investigators trying to stop terrorists from using Canada as a base for supporting overseas violence.
Also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, the Tamil Tigers are a rebel group fighting for an independent state for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. They are also one of the world's leading practitioners of suicide bombing. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is listed on the Interpol Web site as wanted for murder, organized crime, terrorism and terrorism conspiracy.
Canadian police and intelligence agencies say the Tigers operate a series of front organizations and front companies in Canada that raise money and engage in lobbying to sustain the LTTE's campaign of violence.
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said last February that Canada did not want to take any action that could be counter-productive to Sri Lanka's Norwegian-brokered peace process, but Mr. MacKay called that an excuse. "CSIS has reports that have called upon the government to list the Tigers, but the age-old excuse that has been given is that it might somehow upset the fragile peace process in Sri Lanka," Mr. MacKay said. "I think we're overstating our own influence if that's the excuse that we're relying upon."
Intelligence reports estimate the Tigers were getting $10-million a year from Canada at one point. The open collection of money declined after a ceasefire was declared in 2002, but some in the Sri Lankan community are reporting a resurgence of fundraising and extortion efforts in anticipation of a return to war.
Last year, Sri Lanka's foreign minister was assassinated in a sniper attack the government blames on the Tigers. Several recent bombings targeting the Sri Lankan military have likewise been attributed to the Tigers. Supporters of the LTTE, who regularly hold large rallies in Toronto, argue that Tamils have no choice but to fight because of the way the country's Sinhalese majority has historically treated them.
A slide presentation circulated on the Internet early in the election campaign urged Sri Lankan Canadians to vote Conservative because "many countries banned LTTE" but the "Liberals did not."
Link
