News

Request for Flood Relief Assistance

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in Canada wishes to draw the attention of the Sri Lankan expatriate community and well-wishers to the recent disaster in Sri Lanka due to the severe rainfall which continued for over three weeks. As a result, over a million people have been affected in Sri Lanka and around 284,000 people are presently housed in welfare centres. Ampara and Batticaloa are the worst affected districts.

The Ministry of Disaster Management is soliciting financial assistance to provide relief services to the victims.

Financial contributions could be directed to this High Commission by sending a cheque drawn in favour of the “High Commission of Sri Lanka”.

Every contribution will be acknowledged with an official receipt and the financial contributions will be transferred to the General Deposit Account (GDA) of the Government of Sri Lanka, which will eventually be utilized by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) for relief assistance measures.

High Commission of Sri Lanka

Ottawa

January 20, 2011

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Thai Pongal message

Thai Pongal is a celebration of the Hindu-Tamil farming community that highlights the core values of their culture and civilization. It is a sacred day when gratitude is expressed to the Sun God for the bountiful harvest gathered. As such, it is a day for Hindus in Sri Lanka who march towards development in the golden rays of the sun, to join in celebration with those of their faith worldwide.

I join in the prayers on this Thai Pongal, for stronger bonds of friendship, mutual understanding and trust among all communities in the absence of fear and suspicion.

I call upon all on this day, to be united to achieve a sustainable peace, harmony, equality and prosperity in our land.

“The dawn of the Month of Thai, is the beginning of a new path”

Strengthen trust among peoples this New Year – President

We look towards the future at the dawn of this New Year with renewed determination, firm commitment and many positive expectations. It is a great achievement that freedom and peace is now established in our motherland to enable such aspirations.

The major challenge before us is to raise the position of our country in the world. We recognize this year as one where many giant steps towards development will be taken based on the five-fold sectors of progress. There will no doubt be a considerable increase in the sacrifices needed to achieve this, similar to those made to gain victory in the last five years.

Our aim is to recover with speed all that was lost to Sri Lankan society in more than three decades. Our wish is to make use of every opportunity to ensure prosperity to Sri Lankan society by providing the equitable sharing of economic benefits.

National unity is key to both uniting and developing the motherland. Thus, the time has come to rise above all differences. Only then could all conspiracies to deny coexistence, and those against the people and the nation, be defeated.

With great determination and patience, we have built mutual understanding and trust among the people about the nation's development. Strengthening this should be among our wishes for the New Year. In doing so, I trust you will gain further strength to make this New Year bring further victory to the nation.

I wish you a Happy New Year !

President`s Christmas Message

I wish a Happy Christmas to all Sri Lankans and citizens of the world who celebrate the birth of Christ at this Christmas!

The purpose of celebrating Christmas is to enshrine the message of peace and love in one's heart. It is especially a time to spread the message of love and compassion towards the poor and peace among all peoples.

Our great commitment in the recent past to promote solidarity among communities, is in keeping with the teaching of Christ to 'love thy neighbour'. Our efforts to free our people from poverty have been appreciated by Christians and those of all other faiths, alike.

Christ taught that, whosoever shall receive a child in my name receiveth me. Christian tradition holds that the three kings came to worship the new born child guided by the star light that marked his birth. Similarly, we must bring the joyous message of Christmas closer to the hearts of our children. Thus, we will be able to come closer to the peace and love of Christ through Christmas.

I wish you all a Happy Christmas filled with peace and joy.

Indian Minister of External Affairs to visit Sri Lanka

Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India, S. M. Krishna, will commence a three day visit to Sri Lanka on 25 November 2010.

This visit, which is the first high level visit from India in the second term of President Mahinda Rajapaksa follows up on the important visit to India from 8-11 June 2010 by the President, which has laid a strong foundation for the future development of India-Sri Lanka relations. The Joint Statement issued during President Rajapaksa’s visit embodies the vision of the leaders of Sri Lanka and of India for harnessing the enormous potential available for consolidating and strengthening the bilateral partnership through building on shared values; leveraging common strategic concerns and interests; enhancing connectivity and economic engagement and reinforcing institutional frameworks for a comprehensive partnership in all areas of bilateral endeavour.

A key event that will take place during the visit is the convening of the Seventh Session of the India – Sri Lanka Joint Commission which is co-chaired by Minister S.M. Krishna on behalf of India and Minister G.L. Peiris on behalf of Sri Lanka. This will provide the two countries an opportunity to review the growing ties between Sri Lanka and India; monitor implementation of bilateral understandings and further enhance the bilateral relations. Several bilateral agreements will also be signed during the visit.

The External Affairs Minister of India would make use of his visit to Sri Lanka to inaugurate the Consulate General Offices of India in Jaffna and in Hambantota.

The other key elements of Minister Krishna’s programme include calls on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and on Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne.

Ministry of External Affairs
Colombo

24th November 2010

United in peace, lets build a great nation - President

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Our first task in our rise to be among the great nations of the world, is to ensure lasting national unity and sustainable, permanent peace in our motherland, stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa after the swearing in for his second term of office today (19 Nov) at the Presidential Secretariat.

Our policy is one of non-alignment, he said adding, ‘we do not have enemy states or such groups or blocs. During the last era, we worked with many nations in agreement and friendship for national security. We now step into the development era. We extend our hand of friendship to those who assist us in this endeavour’.

We have the inherited wisdom to tolerate all opinion and take mature decisions. We have a tradition of understanding our problems and conflicts and finding solutions for them, he further stated.

‘We are not a miniature of a developed country. We are Sri Lanka. Our motherland is Sri Lanka’.

Tree planting programme in Ottawa, Canada

High Commissioner Mrs. Chitranganee Wagiswara on 15th November 2010 planted a sapling of ‘White Spruce’ ( picea glauca) at the premises of the official residence to mark the 65th Birthday and the inauguration of the second term of office of His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Deepavali Celebrations in Canada

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The Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa, Canada and the Consul General’s Office in Toronto together with the Sri Lankan community celebrated the Deepavali festival on a grand scale on 7^th November, 2010 at the Korean Cultural Centre in Toronto. Religious dignitaries of the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian clergy participated in the event. Five Members from the Federal Parliament of Canada including Members of the Municipal Councils and over 300 Sri Lankans participated in the celebrations.

A significant feature this year was the involvement of the Tamil community in organizing and coordinating the event. At the entrance to the hall, the members of the youth group “Sri Lankans Without Border” assisted in welcoming the guests according to the Hindu tradition. A member of the Tamil community Mr. Ignatius Selliah was the Master of Ceremonies who conducted the entire event in all three languages. The celebration began with a special pooja to invoke blessings which was conducted by Siva Shri Thiyagarajah Kurukkal, the Chief Hindu Priest of the Sri Durka Hindu Temple.

The Deepavali Message of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was read in Tamil and English. Mr. Ajantha Gnanamuttu and Mr. Sivam Vinayagamoorthi, two members from the Tamil community spoke on the significance of Deepavali, which was followed by an address by the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Canada Mrs. Chitranganee Wagiswara. The High Commissioner spoke of the prevailing peace in Sri Lanka which provided a conducive environment for the Tamil population to celebrate Deepavali with all the religious observances and cultural aspects associated with the event. While touching briefly on the current developments in Sri Lanka, especially in the North and East, she requested all the Sri Lankans living in Canada to unite and work together for continued peace and prosperity of their motherland. The official ceremony was followed by cultural performances depicting religious and Tamil traditions performed by Tamil and Sinhala artists.

The official programme ended with the distribution of door prizes. The first prize was a London/Colombo/London air ticket donated by Sri Lankan Airlines and handed over by Mr. Lalith Wickremasinghe, Manager, Sri Lankan Airlines and the second and third prizes donated by the Canada-Sri Lanka Business Council were handed over to the recipients by Mr. Kula Sellathurai, President, and, Mr. Ganeshan Sugumar, Vice President of the Canada-Sri Lanka Business Council, respectively.

The official and cultural segment of the celebration was followed by a reception hosted by the High Commission and the Consul General’s office with traditional food and sweets associated with Deepavali.

Sri Lanka High Commission

Ottawa, Canada

10/11/2010

Photos by Mr. Nimal Egoda Gedara

The Canada Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group

The Canada-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group was reconstituted with 19 members in the Canadian Parliament following its Annual General Meeting held at the end of September 2010.