Reflection and Looking Ahead for Tamil Canadian History: Canadian Tamil Congress marks 11th annual T

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), on January 20, 2018, held its 11th annual Thai Pongal event at the Toronto/Markham Hilton Suites. It was organized in recognition of Thai Pongal, an auspicious holiday for Tamil people that celebrates abundance after the end of the harvest season in the Tamil calendar. A delicacy associated with this holiday is Pongal, a rice sweetened with ingredients such as jaggery and cardamom, boiling over a pot that symbolizes this abundance. The month of January in Ontario and Canada have been officially commemorated as Tamil Heritage Month, celebrating the diverse contributions Tamil-Canadians have brought to Canadian society.

The event marked the achievements over the past year for the CTC, such as Tamil Fest 2017 and the opening of the North and East Economic Development Centre in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. An aspect that particularly distinguished this annual event from previous ones was unfortunate but significant for the Tamil community in Canada. Captain Augustus Dalton or Gus, a fisherman from Newfoundland and Labrador, passed away at the age of 86. In response, the event held a special tribute honouring his unique legacy. Accordingly, on August 11, 1986, he discovered 155 Tamil refugees floating adrift on a boat whom were fleeing violence from their homeland of Sri Lanka. With local fisherman, they dumped their catch of the day so to speak to rescue these vulnerable individuals. More recently, the CTC was instrumental in organizing a reunion between these refugees and Captain Gus Dalton, his family and friends in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

It was an opportunity to convey gratitude for the selflessness, hospitality, and the actions of Gus Dalton, the other fisherman, and the Canadian Coast Guard in supporting the wellbeing of these refugees. The speaker delivering this tribute on his legacy noted that Dalton would become a memorable figure in Tamil Canadian history. Furthermore, that a true hero does not see themselves as one but as someone doing what was necessary in a certain situation. One of the keynote speeches at the event was presented by Minister of Status of Women, Maryam Monsef on behalf of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Government of Canada. “I’ve learned of mothers who this coming February will mark the year of vigilance and activism to ensure there is accountability and justice for their husbands, sons, and their daughters, and they inspire me, they inspire me the same way that women whom march today at Nathan Phillips Square inspire me.” stated Minister Monsef.

The Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, stated “as a Master’s student of Linguistics, I can promise you that on every page of my textbook there was a Tamil exercise, every single page, because it is such an important and unique language.” Former Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) leader, Patrick Brown felt proud to note that “we have more Tamil Canadians running for our Ontario PC Party than in any point in our party’s history or in any point in politics in the province of Ontario. Some of these candidates included Markham city councillor Logan Kanapathi and Thenusha Parani.

M.A Sumanthiran, a Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka also spoke, stating “a change was brought about, a change that no one thought would come about so fast but was done with the active participation of the Tamil people back home. Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the president, who claimed who won the war, and many said that he must remain president for 25 years was brought down through a democratic process, and our people led the way in that.” Aside from these political contributions emerging from the Tamil community both in Canada and abroad, the event served as a spotlight for the artistic and economic contributions that this group of people bestowed onto Canada and beyond.

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), on January 20, 2018, held its 11th annual Thai Pongal event at the Toronto/Markham Hilton Suites. It was organized in recognition of Thai Pongal, an auspicious holiday for Tamil people that celebrates abundance after the end of the harvest season in the Tamil calendar. A delicacy associated with this holiday is Pongal, a rice sweetened with ingredients such as jaggery and cardamom, boiling over a pot that symbolizes this abundance. The month of January in Ontario and Canada have been officially commemorated as Tamil Heritage Month, celebrating the diverse contributions Tamil-Canadians have brought to Canadian society.

The event marked the achievements over the past year for the CTC, such as Tamil Fest 2017 and the opening of the North and East Economic Development Centre in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. An aspect that particularly distinguished this annual event from previous ones was unfortunate but significant for the Tamil community in Canada. Captain Augustus Dalton or Gus, a fisherman from Newfoundland and Labrador, passed away at the age of 86. In response, the event held a special tribute honouring his unique legacy. Accordingly, on August 11, 1986, he discovered 155 Tamil refugees floating adrift on a boat whom were fleeing violence from their homeland of Sri Lanka. With local fisherman, they dumped their catch of the day so to speak to rescue these vulnerable individuals. More recently, the CTC was instrumental in organizing a reunion between these refugees and Captain Gus Dalton, his family and friends in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

It was an opportunity to convey gratitude for the selflessness, hospitality, and the actions of Gus Dalton, the other fisherman, and the Canadian Coast Guard in supporting the wellbeing of these refugees. The speaker delivering this tribute on his legacy noted that Dalton would become a memorable figure in Tamil Canadian history. Furthermore, that a true hero does not see themselves as one but as someone doing what was necessary in a certain situation. One of the keynote speeches at the event was presented by Minister of Status of Women, Maryam Monsef on behalf of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Government of Canada. “I’ve learned of mothers who this coming February will mark the year of vigilance and activism to ensure there is accountability and justice for their husbands, sons, and their daughters, and they inspire me, they inspire me the same way that women whom march today at Nathan Phillips Square inspire me.” stated Minister Monsef.

The Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, stated “as a Master’s student of Linguistics, I can promise you that on every page of my textbook there was a Tamil exercise, every single page, because it is such an important and unique language.” Former Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) leader, Patrick Brown felt proud to note that “we have more Tamil Canadians running for our Ontario PC Party than in any point in our party’s history or in any point in politics in the province of Ontario. Some of these candidates included Markham city councillor Logan Kanapathi and Thenusha Parani.

M.A Sumanthiran, a Member of Parliament for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka also spoke, stating “a change was brought about, a change that no one thought would come about so fast but was done with the active participation of the Tamil people back home. Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the president, who claimed who won the war, and many said that he must remain president for 25 years was brought down through a democratic process, and our people led the way in that.” Aside from these political contributions emerging from the Tamil community both in Canada and abroad, the event served as a spotlight for the artistic and economic contributions that this group of people bestowed onto Canada and beyond.