For over 20 years, the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam waged a civil war against each other that has affected the lives of Tamil and Sinhalese diasporas living in Canada.
As part of the Contentious Conflict and Canadian Society Series, the York Centre for International & Security Studies is holding a panel discussion Dec. 2 about how Tamil and Sinhalese Canadians have mobilized to shape public opinion and influence official views and policy in Canada.
Key questions the panel may address include:
1) How is the civil war in Sri Lanka represented by the diaspora living in Canada?
2) What are the political options for members of a diaspora in terms of both direct and indirect action, and can they exert a positive influence on Canadian foreign and domestic policies?
3) What should be the policy response in Ottawa to calls for intervention or action from diasporas in Canada?
4) How can the diasporas contribute to developing an effective and peaceful response to the problems within the community in both Sri Lanka and Canada?
5) What should be the role of universities in providing a space for the debate of contentious conflicts within Canadian society?
The panel consists of community representatives and experts on the Sri Lankan conflict and its impact on Canadian society.
The panel includes:
- Rudhramoorthy Cheran, a University of Windsor anthropology and sociology professor who specializes in ethnicity, international migration, diasporas and transnationalism;
- Ken Kandeepan, a member of the Canadian Tamil Congress;
- Stewart Bell, National Post reporter who has covered the Sri Lankan civil war;
- John Argue, coordinator for Sri Lanka, Amnesty International in Canada;
- Clem Marshall, the panel moderator, who is an educator and president of MangaCom Inc., which provides a range of equity-enhancing services in education, organizational change and the arts.
The panel discussion will take place Dec. 2 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm in the Conference Centre, 519 York Research Tower.
To attend this event, register online in advance.