OTTAWA – Canadian Alliance MP, Jason Kenney questioned the commitment of the federal government in the fight against terrorism in a news conference today.

Kenney said, "Representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are right in our own backyard." "In a recent letter in the Globe and Mail, the Sri Lankan President claims that Canada is a considerable source of fundraising for terrorist activity in Sri Lanka. Front groups like the Federation of Association of Canadian Tamils (FACT) and the World Tamil Movement are political and benevolent fronts for the LTTE," said Kenney.

In Sri Lanka, the Tigers use assassinations, suicide bombings, ethnic cleansing, torture and rape. The US State Department, the Government of Sri Lanka, and the Canadian Department of Justice have identified the Federation of Association of Canadian Tamils (FACT) as a fundraising front for the LTTE. Federal government lawyers made the claim in a court document filed in the Suresh case last year.

Kenney was joined by two representatives of the Canadian Sri Lankan community who presented considerable evidence demonstrating the violence of the LTTE in their country. A representative of Canada’s Tamil community was supposed to join the news conference but backed out at the last minute for fear of reprisals from LTTE supporters.

The Tigers draw on support from their vast network of expatriates across the world. Those they cannot convince to support them are threatened. In 1995, retailers of a Tamil publication critical of the LTTE faced intimidation. Shopkeepers were warned not to carry the magazine, Muncharie, and at least one advertiser received harassing letters and phone calls.

"Last year Liberal ministers Paul Martin and Maria Minna attended a fundraising dinner for FACT, despite having previously received warnings from the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka about this group," Kenney said. "Could the special treatment being given to FACT have anything to do with the support that organization has received from Martin and Minna?"