The announcement from Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day had been expected since the RCMP raided the non-profit organization's Toronto and Montreal offices more than two years ago. That was shortly after the Conservatives declared foreign Tamil Tiger guerrillas and their henchmen outlaws in Canada.
The move left representatives of one of Canada's largest and most active voting blocs saying that the Tories have alienated them further, and suggesting that Ottawa should concentrate instead on bringing an end to the civil war in Sri Lanka.
No charges have been laid against anyone associated with the raided Canadian offices, although one alleged WTM fundraiser was recently arrested in Vancouver. Mr. Day urged the Canadian public to "stay tuned" to the continuing RCMP investigation.
Yesterday's announcement was aimed at stanching the flow of funds to Sri Lanka by targeting the Tigers and their emissaries. "If the funds are identified as from the WTM, the World Tamil Movement, then those funds are in the process right now of being frozen," Mr. Day said.
The federal government says the WTM was created in 1986 and is the "leading front group" in Canada for the Tigers, formed to acquire and transfer money to Sri Lanka in the direction of the Tamil Tigers. In the past, WTM members have described themselves as an ethno-cultural group celebrating the Tamil identity and have repeatedly said they don't solicit funds.
The minister made the announcement in Toronto, which is possibly the largest centre for the Tamils outside of Asia.
This spring, the Mounties filed hundreds of pages of affidavits to support their allegation that the WTM is the Tamil Tigers' de facto Canadian arm. One document suggests guerrilla leaders in Sri Lanka sent letters asking the person "in-charge of the Canadian section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" to acquire and remit the equivalent of $3-million in a six-month period.
The RMCP material also includes allegations that the WTM mapped out specific fundraising blocks in Toronto, using illegally acquired government voters lists with Tamil names highlighted. Police photos of the WTM offices allegedly show pictures of Tamil Tiger leaders placed alongside the likes of Lenin, Mao, Yasser Arafat and Nelson Mandela - suggesting a belief the guerrillas will eventually be considered revolutionary leaders rather than terrorist outlaws.
However, the Tamil Tigers find themselves increasingly isolated and condemned by Western governments for their continued use of assassination and suicide-bombing campaigns, including a bus bombing that killed 23 civilians this month.
The guerrillas are better regarded in Sri Lanka's north and east, where the Tamil ethnic minority is pretty much ruled by the Tigers, and considers them its champion for independence.
Refugee communities like Toronto, where Sri Lankans come to escape decades of civil war, also tend to regard the Tigers as freedom fighters who respond to alleged "state terrorism," such as forced disappearances and aerial bombardments.
"Right or wrong, we are all very much connected to what is happening in the civil war," said David Poopalapillai, a spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress. "The Canadian government is looking at the situation in Sri Lanka from the wrong lens."
Recent blacklistings by Canada and the European Union have caused the Tigers to lose control of territory, he said. And a Liberal MP responded to the announcement by suggesting the Tories should do more to foster peace in Sri Lanka.
"What has this government done to engage the Sinhalese and Tamil community to come to a dialogue?" said Scarborough MP Jim Karygiannis, whose riding is a major Tamil centre. He added that the Conservatives know they have alienated Tamil voters, so they no longer care about evenhandedness.
The Conservative mentality, the MP said, is "we can't get them to vote for us, so we're going to write them off."
