Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa

President Maithripla Sirisena expressed his, shock, deep pain and dismay over the brutal attacks on places of religious worship and other civilian establishments.

He said that that he has instructed all law enforcement agencies and defence services to take every possible step to maintain law and order and conduct speedy investigations into the dastardly attack and bring the culprits and those who were behind this conspiracy to book.

“I have given instructions to take very stern action against the persons who are responsible for this conspiracy,” the President said and added that all required steps have been taken to fulfill the responsibilities as a government.

President Sirisena appealed to the nation to act with utmost restraint and patience, and not to be misled by baseless rumours and false stories. He also urged the people to extend unstinted support and cooperation to the government for the steps taken at this trying occasion.

Source:http://www.pmdnews.lk/president-condemns-dastardly-attack-and-calls-for-restraint-and-patience-orders-swift-investigations-to-find-culprits-behind-conspiracy/

A special discussion was held with the participation of heads of security forces and all other departments regarding the current security situation in the country, and during that meeting, the government has decided to take steps to tighten  security at all the religious places, tourists hotels, hospitals and embassies and provide security to all the catholic religious leaders and to important places of the government.

Furthermore,   the President has instrcuted the Inspector General of the Police to impose police curfew across the country. Similarly, a National Action Unit has been established to conduct investigtaion under the guidance of the Chief of the Defence Staff and to conduct search operations to arest the culprists.  Already instructions has been given to all the authorities of the hospitals to provide prompt treatment facilities to the victims.

At present, the process of body identification is being carried out and the judicial authorities are taking steps to conduct their postmortems promptly. The Government has decided to bear funeral expenses of all the deceased persons.

Currently, the security sections are conducting investigations in a broad manner on these incidents and the government has taken steps to temporarily block all the social media avenues until the investigations are concluded.

Steps have been taken to declare April 22 and 23 as holiday for all the government and private schools.

The government requests the public to ensure the peace while remaining in homes and to provide necessary assistance to security forces as the security has been tighten across the Island.

The tri-forces have been summoned to ensure the security of the public and the tri-forces will ensure the security of the people with the coordination of the Police Department.

Udaya R Senevirathne
Secretary to the President
2019-04-21

 Source :http://www.pmdnews.lk/

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Canada, M.A.K. Girihagama called on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Hon. Ted Arnott on 28^th March 2019 at the Legislative Building in Ontario. The High Commissioner briefed Hon. Arnott on recent developments in Sri Lanka and the long standing bilateral relations shared between Sri Lanka and Canada. He also referred to the on-going reconciliation process in Sri Lanka and development assistance provided by Canada in this regard. Speaker Arnott thanked the High Commissioner and assured him of Ontario’s engagement on issues of mutual interest. The High Commissioner and the Speaker also agreed to continue working towards further enhancing the bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and Ontario.

Following the meeting with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, the High Commissioner also held discussions with Rev. Pastor Marc Dissanayake and the Board of Trustees at the Christian Ministries International followed by a meeting with the President and Chief Priest Vijayakumar Kurukkal and the Board of Trustees of Varasiththy Vinayagar Hindu Temple.

Read more: Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Canada calls on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and meets with representatives of all religious faiths in Toronto

The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Toronto in co-ordination with the Buddhist temples in Toronto organized a series of events to mark the inscription of Tripitaka to be a World Heritage.

On Saturday, 16^th March 2019, the first event was organized at the West End Buddhist Temple & Meditation Centre in Mississauga. The programme commenced with the observance of the five precepts followed by the Buddha Pooja.  This was followed by two lectures which were conducted during the event on ‘Introduction to Tripitaka’ by Ven. Kusalagnana Thero and on ‘Thripitaka and Spiritual values of Sri Lankan Social Life’ by Dr. Sarath Chandrasekera of the University of Toronto.

Read more: Awareness Programmes for the inscription of Tripitaka to be a World Heritage

Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa operated the Sri Lanka booth at the Travel and Vacation Show which was sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism Development, Wildlife & Christian Religious Affair’s Sri Lanka.

The Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show which took place from March 30^th to 31^st, 2019 at Shaw Centre in Ottawa, attracted more than 17, 000 prospective travellers for the purpose of preparing their trips, discovering new destinations and seeking expert advice on their future holiday destinations. More than 45 countries were represented at this event through their tourism offices, tour operators and travel agents.

Read more: Sri Lanka at the Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa