Canadian parties join in screening Channel-4 documentary in Parliament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2011, 06:47 GMT]
“As a Member of Parliament to Barrie, I was proud to host the screening of the UK Channel 4 - Sri Lanka’s Killing Field documentary in the Canadian Parliament on Wednesday, September 28th,” said Patrick Brown, Conservative MP for Barrie in a statement issued Friday adding that “we can all take this noble cause forward till we see freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.” The well-attended screening, organised by Human Rights Watch in Toronto, was co-hosted by NDP’s Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Liberal’s John McKay.

Citing the screening, hosted by the Conservative MP, Rathika Sisababaiesan of the NDP raised a question in the Canadian Parliament on Thursday that “will this government now stand in the House today and finally commit to fighting for justice for Sri Lankans and call for a United Nations inquiry?”

Full text of the statement by Patrick Brown, follows:

As a Member of Parliament to Barrie, I was proud to host the screening of the UK Channel 4 - “Sri Lanka’s Killing Field” documentary in the Canadian Parliament on Wednesday, September 28th.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Human Rights Watch and my follow colleagues NDP’s Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Liberal’s John McKay for co-hosting the event with me.

I also would like to thank my Tamil constituents particularly Aran Sureshkumar who has been inspirational for me to take this worthy cause forward.

As our Prime Minister recently said, “We are not a country that makes war for gain or for territory. We do not fight for glory. If we covet honour, it is only a reputation for doing the right thing in a good cause.”

We can all take this noble cause forward till we see freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

"The Sri Lankan government needs to know that after two and a half years of denying abuses and taking no genuine domestic accountability efforts, time has run out. Canada should lead the way in pushing for an international independent investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, and this means shoring up support from like-minded countries ahead of the next Human Rights Council session," said Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.