Sri Lanka Objects to Tamil Genocide Monument in Canada

As Sri Lanka advances its reconciliation and unity efforts at home, the government has raised strong objections abroad to the Brampton City Council’s approval of a Tamil Genocide Monument at Chinguacousy Park, Canada. At a meeting in Colombo with High Commissioner Eric Walsh, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath conveyed that the monument’s construction, based on what Sri Lanka describes as “unfounded genocide allegations,” risks undermining national unity.

The conflict 

Sri Lanka’s three-decade-long civil conflict ended in 2009 with heavy civilian losses on all sides. While Tamil groups and diaspora communities have long campaigned for international recognition of alleged war crimes—and in some cases genocide—Sri Lankan authorities insist no credible body has substantiated such charges. In 2021, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it has not designated events in Sri Lanka as genocide, and in 2024 reaffirmed its listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organization.

Government Stance

 Minister Herath argued that the monument’s approval is “divisive, dangerous, and deeply irresponsible,” accusing Canadian municipal leaders of pandering to “vote-bank politics” at the expense of reconciliation citeturn0news2. Former Minister M U M Ali Sabry echoed these sentiments, acknowledging Tamil suffering but rejecting genocide labeling as “wrong” and “harming all communities.”

Tamil Canadian View

The Tamil Canadian community—particularly those who fled Sri Lanka during the late 1980s and 1990s—sees the monument as a way to acknowledge the loss of up to 40,000 Tamil civilians during the final stages of the war. A spokesperson from the Canadian Tamil Congress stated: “This monument honors the memory of those who had no voice; it is a step toward global recognition of their suffering.”