Foreign Affairs committee  The philosophy behind a covenant is a written pledge and an undertaking in order to come to peace. I will not take you back to history. You know how the Red Cross was created and how the United Nations was created. If there is understanding among three groups of communities--the

Foreign Affairs committee  Madam, I'd like to address it very deeply. There are two main issues here. One, we have to think about the young Canadians, the diaspora of Sri Lankans who were born within the last 23 years. They are Canadians. They have no links, no culture, no traditions, except what they le

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, sir, to directly address the area of communications, I would say it's a protocol of international relations and bilateral government-to-government dealings. But India made a special stage during the IPKF issue, and Canada should do things the same way. And I would ask the Ca

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not condemning. When I say “we don't want”, I'm talking of the civil society, the NGOs, the small NGOs that are doing their little jobs. I am saying that Canada and CIDA have to streamline their systems so that in the future they can accommodate small groups, small organizati

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I have. First and foremost, I have to thank Canada for all that it has done, in terms of how you explained it. The issue for me here today is not the past. The issue for me here is the present, and the issue for me is the future. Presently, we need Canadian engagement to h

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I know the peace process because I was one of those who initiated the peace process. You have my bio there. The failure of the peace process was not the failure of the will of the Tamil people and the Sinhalese people and the Muslims. The failure of the peace proces

Foreign Affairs committee  Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Noor Nizam. I represent the Tamil-speaking minority community of Sri Lanka, the Muslims. I have to thank the team here and the honourable Paul Crête and David Sweet for giving me this opportunity. To go straight to the question of international r