The member knows that I've done some studies--it's some years ago now--on the role of diaspora in Canada. The question of how to transform all of our peoples of the world into an asset for Canada is a broader question. When it comes to conflict, however, Ken Bush has alluded to the fact that diasporas often play a negative role. They tend to be, as I think the phrase goes, more royal than the Queen. They tend to have outdated images of the homeland. Youths abroad looking for a focus are endlessly recruitable, as they come of age, to causes of their people, even though they're now third generation away. So I believe there may be a role, but “sensitive” is only the beginning of how you would approach that role.
I will give you some anecdotes, because that's all we have. When I was in Jaffna, I made a point of interviewing. This was during the time when the government had an interregnum. They had a hold on it, with known Tigers roaming the streets. I was told there, as well as by people here very recently, when we had an Amnesty International meeting on Sri Lanka, by Tamils, and I was told the same story almost a decade apart, there and here, “You give us a package. You give us what we're asking for. You give us the powers we need. We will get rid of the Tigers.” I heard that where, as I say, it was dangerous to be hearing it, and from a newspaper editor in Jaffna, and recently here in the streets, and in a boardroom in Ottawa.
Again, I'll just emphasize that whatever the diaspora here may be feeling, I think the peoples of Sri Lanka are thoroughly sick and tired of this war, just as you've alluded. The rest of us would like it behind us.
In terms of this equitable redevelopment program, if Canada can play a role, saying to the parties involved...and there are multiple parties involved; we didn't even talk about the Moors and the Burghers. If we can say to them, “Canada does have a way, and we are willing to help”, and then we find a way to do that helping, maybe among this diaspora we'll have an equivalent of a Peace Corps, a development corps. Who knows what the future could bring if we could go from a negative cycle to a positive cycle?
That's where we are right now, and that's the opportunity and challenge.