National Post

"It was a celebration of dance," said Paul Martin, the Finance Minister, referring to his appearance last Saturday at a Toronto dinner sponsored by the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT). Another federal Liberal who attended, Maria Minna, the Minister of International Co-operation (yes, there is one), says "we should celebrate [Tamil] national events as we do with many other cultural groups in Canada." The Sri Lankan government disagrees: On Wednesday, it summoned the Canadian high commissioner in Colombo to protest the conduct of the ministers.

Mr. Martin and Ms. Minna think the dinner commemorated the "Tamil New Year" and denied that the dinner was a FACT fundraiser for the Tamil Tigers, the terrorist organization that is fighting for a separate ethnic state in northern Sri Lanka. Of FACT, Ms. Minna was nonchalant: "we can't judge if there's one or two individuals who may be involved with terrorist activities."

This insistence that FACT is a normal, run-of-the-mill group dedicated to celebrating the culture and achievements of Tamil-Canadians is alarming. The latter do have much to celebrate, but FACT should not be their conduit. According to the U.S. State Department, the RCMP and a commentary written for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, FACT is an "overarching umbrella front organization" for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- the Tamil Tigers. The author of the CSIS commentary, Peter Chalk, an Australian expert on south-east Asian security, states that the LTTE frequently operate "through cultural and social cover/front offices."

How does the system work? "Often the LTTE will siphon off donations that are given to non-profit cultural bodies to finance Tamil social service, medical and rehabilitation programs in Sri Lanka." Unfortunately, much of this humanitarian money is diverted into terrorism and gun-running. The LTTE's profits from heroin-trafficking, extortion and passport fraud must also be taken into account.

This is not classified or confidential information, but open knowledge except, apparently, to cabinet ministers. Canadian immigration officials are trying to deport the former FACT co-ordinator in Toronto, Manickavasagam Suresh, alleging that he was fundraising for the Tigers. Moreover, the program for the FACT dinner explicitly advocates the Tamils' "inalienable Right to Self-Determination," thereby casting doubt on the contention that the dinner was a non-political "celebration of dance."

So why are Liberal ministers sticking to their story? One possible answer is supplied by the CSIS commentary: "Many Western politicians believe that it is the ethnic or the minority vote that makes a difference in an election" and do not want to "impinge on their local electoral support base" by seeming unsympathetic to grievances.

Another is that the Liberals are being unduly influenced. Recently, Raymond Chan, the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, declared that FACT members had joined the Liberal party and even flew a FACT representative to Ottawa to discuss Canada's role in brokering peace in Sri Lanka. (Is the Sri Lankan government now likely to accept Canada as an honest broker if FACT is involved?)

It is scandalous that, for whatever reason, Canadian cabinet ministers are undermining the global fight against terrorism by blessing FACT with their presence, their morally neutral attitude and their excuses.