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"Anybody who was at that event, it was very clearly a cultural and a community event of a group of Canadians," Martin said of the Saturday dinner sponsored by the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT).
"And I was there ... as a Canadian minister meeting with a group of Canadians."
Martin, who was in Windsor to accept Assumption University's Christian Culture Series gold medal, stressed the $60-per-plate dinner in Toronto was not a political event.
Its focus was cultural, he said and meant to mark the Tamil New Year.
"It was a celebration of dance. And it was a celebration of the tremendous success of the Tamil community in Canada in all of the professions, in business and in artistic areas."
But a "commentary" distributed by CSIS March 17 calls FACT one of several "umbrella front organizations" used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to further its goal of establishing an independent Tamil state.
Commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, the LTTE is a rebel organization which features a military wing with several elite fighting units -- including a suicide squad known as the Black Tigers.
The Tamil Tigers have, for 17 years, been locked in a bloody civil war with the Sri Lankan military. It rages even now as India's air force was poised today to drop supplies to 28,000 Sri Lankan troops trapped by advancing rebels.
The document distributed by CSIS was authored by Peter Chalk, an Australian academic and authority on South-East Asian security issues. However, a disclaimer on CSIS's Web site notes the document's publication "does not imply CSIS authentication ... nor CSIS endorsement."
Chalk says FACT -- along with similar groups in Australia, France, Switzerland and the U.K. -- is among the LTTE's "most active bodies."
"Most LTTE international propaganda tends to be conducted through politically sympathetic pressure groups and media units, the activities of which are co-ordinated through overarching umbrella front organizations," Chalk writes. "The essential objective of this global structure is to harness political and economic support for the LTTE and its stated aim of creating a separate Tamil state of Tamil Eelam in northeastern Sri Lanka.
Martin's plans to attend the dinner first came to light in Saturday's National Post. It cited a recent U.S. State Department report which called FACT a "front" for terrorism.
Martin arrived at the dinner late and was whisked into the venue through a rear entrance. But he was joined by Minister of International Co-operation Maria Minna.
"I'm here for the celebration," Minna said. We should celebrate (Tamil) national events as we do with many other cultural groups in Canada. These are Canadian citizens ... who work hard and some I'm sure send money home to help their families and we can't judge if there's one or two individuals who may be involved with terrorist activities."
A government source told The Star Sunday the two Liberal cabinet ministers were not the only elected representatives at the event. Also present were members of Ontario Premier Mike Harris's cabinet.
"It was a cultural thing," the source said.
Celebration organizers were angered by the controversy. "It's very disappointing," said event spokesman Ravi Ponn Ampalam.
He said no money was made and the gathering's purpose was solely to celebrate the culture and achievements of Tamil-Canadians.
FACT is an umbrella organization that includes over 100 Tamil-Canadian groups.
In accepting his gold medal -- an honour bestowed in 1956 on his father, Paul Martin Sr. -- the finance minister spoke passionately and energetically. His speech was about the democratic process.
"Quite simply, for too many around the world, the existing political process just doesn't appear to be working," Martin said. "Thus today, we see more and more people seeking to create their own decision-making process."
The Prize
The Christian Culture Series gold medal is bestowed annually on an outstanding exponent of Christian ideals. One side features the winner's name while a human hand and a mustard plant are depicted on the other. The hand suggests "the human co-operation expected by God in the coming of the Kingdom," says the event program. The mustard plant is a symbol of God's Kingdom. Past winners include Paul Martin Sr., artist William Kurelek and academic Marshall McLuhan.