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Global News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Global News
Public safety minister's statement on letters supporting man deemed terror group member
Statement from the office of Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree on July 14 in response to questions about two letters the MP wrote to the Canada Border Services Agency in 2016 and 2023 in support of Senthuran Selvakumaran, a Sri Lankan citizen who had applied to immigrate to Canada but was denied on the grounds he had been a member of the Tamil Tigers. It would be inappropriate to comment on any specific matters that remain before the courts. That said, there are important matters to clarify. As Minister, I have never sent a letter seeking Ministerial relief in an immigration matter. When I was appointed Minister in July 2023, I instructed my constituency staff to no longer provide such letters. The letters in question here date from before I entered Cabinet. Some important context on that. My office in Scarborough-Guildwood-Rouge Park handles hundreds of immigration matters annually, over 9,000 since I was elected in 2015. That is the nature of representing a diverse riding in the country's largest city. That a constituent, a Canadian citizen, with a Canadian child, would want to reunite her family in Canada is not unusual. And we have created processes by which people can challenge administrative decisions. MPs from all parties provide letters of support for constituents as a routine matter. As a Tamil Canadian, active for decades in my community, I have faced innuendo and whisper campaigns that question my allegiances to Canada. Those are scurrilous and wrong. I am a proud Canadian and proud of my Tamil heritage. I denounce terrorism in all its forms. I decided one way to deal with these allegations was to recuse myself from any decisions related to the listing process under the Anti-Terrorism Act for the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), or the World Tamil Organization. In the discharge of my duties as Minister, I cannot, and will not, make decisions on any matter wherein I advocated for a constituent. This includes Ministerial relief and stays of removals. And I have already placed a screen to recuse myself from matters that involve the two listed entities mentioned above. The questions sent to me by Global News infer something that no other Minister has to face: their premise is that I somehow support a terrorist organization and would make decisions that would favour a terrorist organization. That is false.
Global News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Global News
Before joining cabinet, public safety minister wrote immigration support letters for terror group ‘member'
Before he was appointed to the federal cabinet two years ago, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree wrote letters urging Canadian officials to approve the immigration application of a man they had determined was a member of a terrorist organization. The letters, dated 2023 and 2016, were written on Anandasangaree's House of Commons letterhead and sent to the Canada Border Services Agency on behalf of an alleged member of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers who wanted to move to Toronto. Although Canadian immigration officials had repeatedly rejected Senthuran Selvakumaran as an immigrant due to what they described as his 'protracted involvement' in the Tigers, Anandasangaree asked them to reverse their decision. Also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, the Tamil Tigers fought a lengthy civil war against the Sri Lankan government. The conflict ended in 2009 but the Tigers remain on Canada's list of terrorist organizations. In his most recent letter to the CBSA, Anandasangaree said the agency's refusal to grant Selvakumaran permanent residence had separated the 48-year-old Sri Lankan from his Canadian wife and child, which the Toronto-area MP called 'cruel and inhumane.' 'I respectfully ask that you review and reconsider this decision,' Anandasangaree wrote on July 19, 2023, when he was in the last days of his term as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Anandasangaree's constituency assistant emailed the letter directly to the law firm representing Selvakumaran in his case against the government on July 25, 2023, according to records on the case released to Global News. The following day, Anandasangaree received his first cabinet appointment as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations in the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He was sworn in as Public Safety Minister on May 13. Senthuran Selvakumaran has been trying to immigrate to Canada since 2005, but the CBSA has denied his application on the grounds he was a member of the Tamil Tigers. Federal Court Asked about the matter, Anandasangaree said in a statement on Monday that it would not be appropriate to comment on a matter before the courts but that the 'letters in question here date from before I entered cabinet.' Advertisement 'As minister, I have never sent a letter seeking ministerial relief in an immigration matter. When I was appointed minister in July 2023, I instructed my constituency staff to no longer provide such letters,' he said. Read the minister's full statement here In his new portfolio, Anandasangaree has been given the task of helping fend off a White House trade war by bringing in legislation to toughen Canada's borders, which President Donald Trump has complained are a threat to the United States. But documents on Selvakumaran's case suggest that Anandasangaree's support for the would-be migrant may have put Canadian public safety officials in a potentially awkward position: standing up for border security against the wishes of the MP who is now their minister. The recommendation to deny Selvakumaran's application for permanent residence was signed on Oct. 12, 2023, by Erin O'Gorman, the president of the CBSA, who now reports to Anandasangaree. Her report mentioned a 'letter from Canadian Member of Parliament Gary Anandasangaree, wherein the MP expresses his support for reunification of Mr. Selvakumaran's family in Canada.' She wrote that the letter was among several factors border officials took into account before coming to their decision, but that the CBSA's 'predominant considerations' were national security and public safety. The minister's involvement in the case came to light as a result of a court challenge launched by Selvakumaran, who used Anandasangaree's endorsement to bolster his bid to join his family in Canada. On Wednesday, the Federal Court rejected his appeal. The judge's decision said the evidence put forward by Selvakumaran included a letter of support from an MP, whom she did not name. Global News reviewed the public court file in Ottawa and found it contained two letters signed by Anandasangaree in which he identified himself as a Member of Parliament. 'MP Gary Anandasangaree supported Mr. Selvakumaran's application for ministerial relief prior to taking on his current ministerial role,' Lorne Waldman, Selvakumaran's Toronto lawyer, said on Monday. 'Members of Parliament often choose to do so when approached by their constituents who have compelling circumstances, and there is nothing improper in doing so.' Waldman said he was disappointed with the court's ruling. He said his client 'made a mistake well over two decades ago and claimed refugee status in the United Kingdom based on a false story of relatively low-level involvement with the LTTE.' 'He and his family have been attempting to correct the record and ask for compassionate consideration since 2007. The family will continue to suffer due to the court's decision.' Prime Minister Mark Carney's office did not respond to questions by deadline. The letters View image in full screen Image from government promotional video showing Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree with Canada Border Services Agency officers. Public Safety Canada In his statement to Global News, Anandasangaree said he had recused himself from decisions related to the Tamil Tigers and the World Tamil Movement, which Public Safety Canada alleges is its Canadian front organization. The recusal was a a response to what 'scurrilous and wrong' allegations, Anandasangaree said. He said he would also refrain from making decisions concerning those he had helped before joining cabinet. 'In the discharge of my duties as minister, I cannot, and will not, make decisions on any matter wherein I advocated for a constituent,' he said. 'This includes ministerial relief and stays of removals.' It was a 'routine matter' for MPs from all parties to provide letters of support for constituents, he said. But Selvakumaran's case raised national security questions that are not as straightforward as a typical immigration file. In his letters of support, Anandasangaree downplayed the CBSA's concerns about Selvakumaran, calling the decision to bar him from Canada due to his alleged role in the Tamil Tigers an 'error.' Advertisement He claimed there were 'no records … suggesting reasons he might be inadmissible to Canada' — although CBSA officials had compiled a detailed report assessing the evidence they relied on to make their decision. The CBSA's report on Selvakumaran said he had acknowledged that he began working for the Tigers in 1992 when he joined a friend who distributed propaganda for the group. He continued doing so until 1998, the report said. The LTTE attacked civilian centres and assassinated politicians such as Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the CBSA wrote in its report recommending the rejection of Selvakumaran's application for permanent residence. The Tigers also ran an 'extensive' fundraising, propaganda and arms procurement network in Sri Lanka and 'within the Tamil diaspora,' the CBSA wrote in its 29-page report. The network raised millions for the Tigers in Toronto and other Canadian cities, partly through intimidation and extortion, according to the RCMP. 'Although the LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009, fundraising efforts continue, particularly within the diaspora,' the report said. Canadian officials are not alleging that Selvakumaran committed any attacks, but said his involvement as a propaganda distributor had 'the effect of facilitating the organization's efforts to spread its messaging at a time to LTTE was actively involved in committing terrorist acts.' Timeline: Click through a slideshow of photos and documents View full screen View full screen View full screen View full screen View full screen View full screen View full screen View full screen Previous Image Next Image Close Modal Gallery In asking the CBSA to approve Selvakumaran's permanent residence, Anandasangaree's letters focused on the emotional toll on his family. Selvakumaran's daughter was 'growing up without both parents,' and lacking 'emotional connection to her father,' while his wife, 'has endured a lot of emotional and psychological stress over the prolonged separation from her husband,' the MP wrote. 'Separating the family for such a prolonged period of time, and depriving the child of the love and support of both parents is rather cruel and inhumane,' he wrote in his latest letter to the CBSA. For its part, the CBSA wrote in its report that Selvakumaran's daughter was born almost a decade after he was informed he was not allowed into Canada due to membership in a terror group. 'It should be noted that Mr. Selvakumaran would have been aware, when he started a family with his wife, that he was inadmissible to Canada; he therefore would have been cognizant of the fact that he might not be in a position to join his wife and daughter,' it said. The documents trail View image in full screen Propaganda billboards urge Tamils to join Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a rebel controlled section of Sri Lanka, April 22, 2007. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe). Hundreds of pages of Federal Court documents released to Global News describe Selvakumaran's repeated attempts to immigrate to Canada from Sri Lanka over the past two decades. Each time, immigration officials rejected him over his alleged membership in the LTTE. His appeals to the courts, in 2012, 2019 and 2024, were all dismissed — most recently last week. Advertisement Throughout his dealings with Canada's immigration system, he has given evolving versions of his past — at first providing details of what he said was his role in the LTTE, and then denying any involvement at all. He initially sought asylum in the United Kingdom, where he told immigration authorities his duties with the LTTE included delivering the group's propaganda newspapers from house to house. He also said he had put up 'notices of deceased LTTE members,' according to the CBSA report detailing his immigration history in Canada and the U.K., where he resided from 1998 to 2006. He got involved 'not only because he wanted to help the organization, but also because he was paid for his work,' the CBSA wrote. He later said it was 'more of a compulsion by the LTTE that all residents should help them in their offensive against the Sri Lankan armed forces.' Britain rejected his refugee claim, citing his lack of credibility. The U.K. did not make any finding on whether he was a member of the LTTE. He then married a woman from Canada. The wedding took place in the U.K. He was still living in London when he applied to immigrate as her spouse in 2005. In 2007, during an interview at the Canadian High Commission in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, Selvakumaran altered his story but still maintained he had worked for the Tamil Tigers. The visa officer found that Selvakumaran's 'self-admitted paid work for the organization as articulated in statements to the U.K. authorities, and confirmed in the 2007 interview, serve as a sufficient basis for the refusal on security grounds.' Following his rejection, Selvakumaran changed his story again. This time he said he had fabricated his account of working for the LTTE as a result of 'bad advice.' He also claimed the Canadian visa officer had 'intimidated' him. He began asserting he had 'never done any work for the LTTE willingly or for payment.' But immigration officials pointed to holes in his timeline and rejected his permanent residence applications.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Madras High Court stays order directing Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission to reinstate former employee
A Division Bench of the Madras High Court has stayed the operation of an order passed by a single judge directing the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai, to reinstate a former employee with back wages. The Bench has also decided to examine in detail as to whether diplomatic missions would fall under the definition of the term 'industry' under the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. The Bench comprising Justices R. Subramanian and K. Surender granted the interim stay after the Deputy High Commission preferred a writ appeal, through its counsel G. Kalyan Jhabak, and contended that the single judge had overlooked the proposition that an Embassy or High Commission could not be termed as an 'industry' as it had been defined under Section 2(j) of the I.D. Act. The orders had been passed on a writ petition filed by T. Senthilkumari, who had served as Consular Assistant at the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai between 2008 and 2018. The Deputy High Court Commission also argued that there was no master-servant relationship between it and the writ petitioner who had sought reinstatement in service and hence the question of reinstatement would not arise at all. Claiming that the petitioner was not terminated at all, the appellant stated that she had worked only in a temporary post and her contractual service had come to an end on December 31, 2018. On the other hand, the single judge, in his February 12 order, had held that foreign diplomatic missions in India could not claim any exemption from following the labour and social security laws of the country, at least with respect to Indians employed in their High Commissions and Consulates here. He stated that the Parliament had enacted the Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act, 1972, to give a force of law to a convention adopted by India at the United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities held in Vienna on April 14, 1961. Article 33 of the Convention clearly states that only foreign nationals serving in a diplomatic mission would be exempt from the social security laws of the receiving State. 'Therefore, the exemption provided for in the Article is not applicable to the nationals of the receiving State... In respect of such employees to whom the exemption provided in the Article does not apply, the diplomatic agents shall observe obligations which the social security provisions of the receiving State impose upon employers. In such view of the matter, no immunity can be claimed by the management,' the judge had said. He had further held that Indians serving in foreign diplomatic missions here need not obtain the Centre's permission, under Section 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure, before approaching an industrial tribunal against their employers. Relying upon a 1963 Supreme Court verdict, he had said, industrial tribunals could not be deemed to be a court for the purpose of obtaining the Centre's express permission before suing a diplomatic mission.
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- Science
- The Hindu
New gecko species from Assam named after Brahmaputra
GUWAHATI A new species of diurnal gecko recorded from Assam has been named after the Brahmaputra River. Unlike most lizards of its kind found across the northeastern part of India, the Cnemaspis brahmaputra found at Dirgheswari Temple on the northern bank of the river facing Guwahati is non-nocturnal. The species has been described in the latest issue of Taprobanica: The Journal of Asian Biodiversity. The authors are Amit Sayyed of the Maharashtra-based Wildlife Protection and Research Society, A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe of Indonesia's Research Centre for Biosystematics and Evolution, Madhurima Das and Rupankar Bhattacharjee of Assam Don Bosco University's Department of Zoology, and Jayaditya Purkayastha of Help Earth, a biodiversity organisation specialising in reptiles. The new species belongs to the Cnemaspis podihuna clade, a group of small, diurnal geckos previously thought to be largely restricted to Sri Lanka. Its discovery in Assam strengthens the evidence for an ancient biogeographic link between Sri Lanka and India's northeast, reflecting historical faunal exchanges across the Indian subcontinent. The new species is genetically and morphologically distinct from its Sri Lankan relatives, showing significant evolutionary divergence. It is distinguished by its larger body size but with fewer mid-body scale rows, more ventral scale rows across the belly, no tubercles on lower flanks, and three enlarged rows of thigh scales parallel to the enlarged femoral scale row. Cnemaspis brahmaputra is the second species of the genus Cnemaspis known from the northeastern region. The first, Cnemaspis assamensis, was described in 2000. Both species are members of the podihuna clade and are restricted to the Brahmaputra River valley. They occur on opposite banks of the river and have significant genetic differences. 'We decided to name the new species of gecko after the Brahmaputra, as it is a major ecological and cultural artery of northeast India. The river has played a crucial role in shaping the region's biodiversity, serving as both a geographic barrier and a corridor for evolutionary processes,' Mr. Purkayastha of Help Earth said.
1News
6 hours ago
- 1News
Illegal boarding house tenants told to hide from housing inspectors
A man who lived in an illegal boarding house in Queenstown says landlord James Truong instructed tenants to hide from MBIE inspectors as attention on the property grew. The man, who did not want his identity revealed, says he and another person were charged $440 a week to share a small room in a converted shed out the back of the house. The Ministry of Business and Innovation (MBIE) said Truong had been ordered to pay $113,723.56 for multiple breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act as well as refund 40% of the rent paid by tenants of an unlawful boarding house. Truong was also issued with a 3-year restraining order from committing any further unlawful acts related to operating a boarding house. The Ministry's tenancy compliance and investigations had advised Truong to stop using the building as a boarding house in 2020, but a complaint in 2023 revealed 11 people living in the five-bedroom house and another 11 people housed in two converted garages and a shed. ADVERTISEMENT The tenant said he shared a room in the shed behind the house between April and July 2023. "It's like storage but he converted it as bedrooms. There was a microwave, a sofa and two small rooms. So me and my friend is living in that one bedroom and then one Sri Lankan guy is living in the other bedroom. "The shed doesn't have any bathrooms so we need to go inside the house to use the bathroom. Even the laundry is in there so we have to walk from the back of the house to the inside of the house," he said. Garage area where five tenants were living. (Source: TCIT Queenstown) Landlord told tenants to hide from inspection teams He said - as MBIE began investigating the house - Truong sent texts instructing him to leave the property or stay inside the shed when inspection teams were near. RNZ has seen texts from Truong instructing tenants to remove food from fridges, dismantle beds and put their clothes in plastic bags ahead of inspections. ADVERTISEMENT "He is messaging us to hide in the shed. He had cameras so he can see if it's MBIE. So he is messaging me saying 'ok don't go out from your room just stay there until I say so'. It's like we were doing something wrong," he said. He said five Indonesian people living in the garage were kicked out with only a night's notice once Truong learned the house was under investigation. Tenant didn't know he was being exploited Being new to country, the man said he was not sure whether the living situation was normal. "I don't know the kind of rules and it's really hard to find an accommodation so I thought like 'maybe that's how it works here'. So we don't know that we are getting exploited," he said. He said Truong would "pursue" the tenants with texts and sudden visits and - as attention of the house grew - he attempted to pressure tenants to sign letters indicating they agreed to live in the spaces willingly. The tenant said MBIE had tried to contact him, but he did not respond because he was scared of losing his accommodation. ADVERTISEMENT Landlord James Truong instructed tenants to stow away beds, clothing and food and hide from inspectors as attention on the property grew. (Source: Penalty reflects the seriousness of offending - MBIE National manager for MBIE's Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team, Brett Wilson, said the penalty was not the largest order issued by the Tenancy Tribunal but the amount was reflective of the number of tenants involved and the seriousness of the issues uncovered. Wilson said the amount of rent to be refunded to the tenants was still being determined and appealed to any people who had lived at the property under Truong to get in touch. "MBIE expects all parties to comply with Tenancy Tribunal orders. Mr Truong has engaged with us so far and we will be working with him to arrange payment. In these cases our priority is to ensure that tenants receive the money they are entitled to and we will take all appropriate steps to make sure that happens," Wilson said. He defended the nearly three years between Truong being told not to use the property as a boarding house in 2020 and the investigation following complaints in 2023. "We do try and follow up cases as frequently as we can but with 600,000 estimated rental properties in the country we aren't always able to follow up cases as promptly as we would like to," Wilson said. ADVERTISEMENT The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Trump's deadline for Russia, legal action against a supermarket giant, and an unusual marathon record. (Source: Breakfast) Inaction reinforces 'cowboy culture' in rental market Renters United president Zac Thomas said the time between Truong being told not to run the property as a boarding house in 2020 and the eventual penalty - nearly five years later - reinforced a "cowboy culture" of non-compliance with housing standards. "When you do the math behind what this landlord must have made from 22 people over the space of nearly five years. We're looking at around $450 a week in fines. They would have made much more than that from the rents that were being paid by the tenants. It's absolutely crazy," Thomas said. He said until the housing crisis in places like Queenstown was addressed, tenants would continue to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous landlords. "We're seeing more and more cases like this because of the reintroduction of no cause evictions. Tenants are too afraid to speak up - at least they did so in this case over time - but throughout the country, time and time again - we see tenants too scared to stand up for their basic rights," Thomas said. Thomas said the Tenancy Tribunal was not properly resourced to address the scale of the problem in New Zealand. ADVERTISEMENT "This should've never taken five years to get to this stage. It's disastrous for our international reputation - in the heart of our tourist capital. "This person should never be able to be a landlord again. [The penalty] is a slap on the wrist compared to the consequences that there should be. "Until we have proper punishments for landlords we'll continue to see this cowboy culture where people push up against the law - go past the line - because they don't believe the punishments are greater than the money they can make from these situations," Thomas said RNZ has been unable to contact Truong for comment.
