Justin Trudeau marked Tamil Heritage month in his Thai Pongal message, celebrating the contribution of Tamil Canadians.
Last week Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly announced targeted sanctions against Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa as well as Sunil Ratnayake and Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi for “gross and systematic violations of human rights during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka”.
The sanctions will effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada, bar them from financial or related services and deem them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Commenting on the sanctions Joly stated:
“Over the past four decades, the people of Sri Lanka have suffered a great deal due to the armed conflict, economic and political instability, and gross violations of human rights. Canada is steadfast in its support to attain peace, reconciliation, justice, and accountability on the island. Canada has taken decisive action today to end international impunity against violators of international law."
"Canada stands ready to support Sri Lanka’s path to peace, inclusion, and prosperity through the advancement of accountability, reconciliation, and human rights, including international assistance to address the domestic crisis,” Joly added.
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