Tamil organisations across Canada have strongly condemned recent racist and xenophobic attacks targeting Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, warning that such narratives seek to undermine the Tamil Canadian community.
In statements released this week, the Canadian Tamil Collective (CTC), National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), and Tamil Rights Group (TRG) all condemned a recent article published by Global News, which casts unfair suspicion on Minister Anandasangaree and Tamil Canadians through a misleading and racialised narrative.
It comes as Anandasangaree announced asked “Public Safety officials to implement a screen on any national security issues relating to the Tamil community”. He said the decision was made “’in an abundance of caution, and to ensure that there is no perception of any conflict”. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stood behind Anandasangaree, stating “We have a rigorous vetting process and he’s taken the right decision, in his judgment and my judgment, to make these arrangements”.
“We will be well covered with respect to all public security decisions,” Carney said.
However the article, titled “Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree under scrutiny over potential border security conflict of interest”, presents what the Tamil Rights Group called a “troubling narrative that recycles harmful stereotypes and casts unfair suspicion on the Tamil Canadian community through misleading and unsubstantiated associations with criminal behaviour.”
The National Council of Canadian Tamils warned that “irresponsible journalism such as this not only threatens the safety and dignity of Tamil Canadians — who are survivors of genocide — but also undermines Canada’s foundational values of equality, inclusion, and human rights”. Their statement was co-signed by dozens of other Tamil Canadian organisations.
Tamil organisations highlighted that references to Tamil asylum seekers and banned entities presented without context or contemporary relevance serve to stigmatise Tamil Canadians, particularly those engaged in legitimate human rights advocacy.
“This is not a good-faith concern about national security,” the Canadian Tamil Collective stated. “It is a continuation of the racist double standard Tamil Canadians have faced for decades — where advocacy for justice is rebranded as disloyalty, and Tamil identity is treated as a liability.”
“This is not simply an attack on two individuals,” said the Canadian Tamil Collective, referring to article on the minister and his wife Harini Sivalingam, a lawyer and community activist who was also targeted in the article. “It is a broader message to every Tamil Canadian serving in public life: that your contributions will be scrutinised, your background weaponised, and your identity treated as a threat,” the Canadian Tamil Collective stated.
“Her credentials are beyond dispute,” the Canadian Tamil Collective said regarding Sivalingam. “Her credibility is questioned not because of anything she has done, but because of who she is. This is not journalistic rigour. It is racialised discrediting disguised as inquiry.”
Tamil Rights Group further noted that such reporting “undermines the credibility of Tamil voices and mischaracterises advocacy for justice, accountability, and human rights as inherently threatening.”
The article’s attempt to associate Tamil asylum seekers who arrived aboard the MV Sun Sea and Ocean Lady with criminality was also condemned. TRG stressed that many of these individuals were civilians and children who sought refuge from persecution and later provided testimony on war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state. “Framing these survivors through a security lens distorts the context of their arrival and fosters unwarranted suspicion toward a community that sought refuge from persecution.”
Tamil organisations also warned that such narratives create fertile ground for foreign states, such as Sri Lanka, to interfere in the lives of diaspora communities and discredit survivors. Tamil Canadians, they emphasised, are proud contributors to Canadian society and remain committed to advancing justice and human rights.
“We reject the notion that our identities are threats, that our work invites attacks on our families, or that our backgrounds disqualify us from serving our country,” the Canadian Tamil Collective stated. “We are not here to apologise for who we are.”
TRG called for an open dialogue with Global News and media stakeholders to address the harm caused by such reporting and to strengthen journalistic standards grounded in fairness and accuracy.
CTC and NCCT urged elected officials, civil society organisations, and the Canadian public to stand with the Tamil community against xenophobia and racism.
“Xenophobia is a threat to social cohesion and democratic society,” the National Council of Canadian Tamils stated. “We urge all Canadians to stand in solidarity against hate by speaking out, supporting inclusive policies, and embracing the strength of our multicultural fabric.”