First
Year on Road to Lasting Peace in Sri Lanka
Notes spoken
to by the Hon. David Kilgour, Secretary
of State (Asia-Pacific) and
M.P. for Edmonton Southeast
on the occasion
of the First Anniversary of the Cease-fire
Agreement in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Canada Friendship Association Building
Millwoods
Cedars Professional Park, Edmonton
February 22, 2003
Sri Lanka’s
High Commissioner to Canada, Geetha de Silva,
has asked me to tell you that she would
have liked to have been here tonight. Allow
me to pass on her best wishes for the evening.
I was honoured
to celebrate Sri Lankan National Day in
Ottawa a few weekends ago and was heartened
to see the wonderful turnout. I’m told
that a few years ago, average attendance
at the event was between 300-400. This year,
over 700 of us not only enjoyed moving cultural
performances - we shared prayers and hopes
for continued peace.
Hopes for
a Lasting Peace
We have perhaps
more to celebrate today than has been the
case for almost a generation. The peace
process which took root over the past year
holds very real promise for a permanent
settlement to a conflict which has caused
too much pain, for too many people, for
far too long.
When the
cease-fire was reached one year ago, there
were cynics who didn’t believe it would
last even several weeks. There were many
who felt it was simply posturing by one
or both sides. What was perhaps underestimated,
however, was the intense desire of all Sri
Lankans to end their suffering and to realize
the dreams of people around the world: to
create better lives for their children.
Perhaps for this reason, the peace process
has surpassed many expectations.
Despite the
incredible events of the last 12 months,
and the hopes for peace which they justifiably
engendered, let us not delude ourselves
into a false sense of complacency. Although
the accomplishments of the last year are
well-deserving of praise, the peace process
still has a long way to go, and many difficult
issues to address, before a true and lasting
peace is at hand. Recent rhetoric and the
apparent attempt by the LTTE to smuggle
arms into Sri Lanka have been destabilizing
and not at all not helpful in building the
trust needed to move this process forward.
Hopefully, however, they are not indicative
of the overall direction of the process.
A successful
resolution to the conflict will require
all parties to make difficult compromises
on fundamental matters which, until very
recently, many considered to be non-negotiable.
History teaches us that peace-making will
not end with the conclusion of the formal
peace talks. In fact, in many ways, it will
just be beginning.
I have no
doubt that each of you follows developments
in the process very carefully, so I don’t
want to spend time reviewing in detail what
you already know. I think it would be appropriate
instead to look back at the last year from
a perspective that is not always profiled:
Canada’s contribution.
A Year of
Canadian Support
I’m
proud to say that Sri Lanka was the Asia-Pacific
country I visited after my appointment as
Secretary of State for the region. The trip
in late March - which was incidentally one
of the first by a minister from any foreign
government after the signing of the cease-fire
- was a way of showing both Sri Lankans
and the international community our support
for the peace process. It also provided
a chance to personally offer Canadian assistance.
The visit
is one I will never forget. I was privileged
to meet not just key decision makers in
Colombo, but also many other Sri Lankans
-- Singhalese, Tamils, and Muslims –
both in the capital and in the villages
and market places of the conflict area.
These meetings gave me a chance to hear,
first-hand, their hopes and fears for the
future – hope for a peaceful future,
and fear of the changes they know must inevitably
accompany any future peace. They underscored
to me how complex the issues involved in
the on-going peace process are, and how
rocky the road to a negotiated, permanent
solution will be. However history teaches
us that peace, although a difficult commodity
to achieve, is well-worth the efforts involved.
The late
spring saw even more travel between Canada
and Sri Lanka. Among others, the head of
the Canadian Public Service Commission,
Nurjehan Mawani, arrived to share Canada’s
experiences in building a bilingual, multi-cultural
public service. Sri Lankan minister and
Chief Negotiator G.L. Peiris’ visit
to Ottawa later in the year was also helpful.
When I met
with members of the community last spring
to discuss ways that Canada could support
the peace process, many of you told me that
1982 constitution, including Charter of
Rights and Freedoms, would be a useful model
for Sri Lanka. As one of the world’s
most inclusive multicultural societies,
as well as a nation which has long had a
policy of official bilingualism, we can
share our experiences in managing the challenges
of respecting diversity. We have extensive
experience in learning how multi-level governance
enables peoples of diverse ethnic, religious,
and linguistic backgrounds to prosper and
live together in peace. In further support
of the peace process, Canada offered technical
advice on practical workings of various
forms of federalism. We have made the Canadian
Forum of Federations available to both parties
to so that they may draw upon Canadian and
international experts according to their
own needs.
Last Autumn,
I was fortunate enough to participate in
an important element of the complex series
of meetings and events which constitute
the Sri Lanka peace process.
On November
25th, I had the privilege of leading Canada’s
delegation to the Oslo International Donors’
Forum in Support of the Sri Lankan Peace
Process. It was a truly historic event with
the potential of altering the course of
history for millions of human beings, both
in Sri Lanka and around the world.
A year ago,
who would have thought that ministers from
the Government of Sri Lanka and representatives
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
would be sitting together, in conjunction
with key members of the international community,
and under the spotlight of the world’s
media, working side-by-side to achieve peace?
What I witnessed in Oslo, of course, was
a manifestation, at the official level,
of the strong desire for peace, which I
first experienced, at the grass-roots level,
six months earlier during my initial visit
to Sri Lanka. At that meeting, Canada pledged
$2 million in new funds to address immediate
humanitarian needs, including the urgent
requirement for landmines to be cleared
so that families can begin returning to
their homes and farms. We also said that
we are prepared to respond to the Tokyo
Reconstruction Conference re-scheduled for
2003 as the peace process advances.
Overall,
The progress to date has certainly been
encouraging. The ultimate challenge, however,
is to ensure that there is not a widening
gap between what is said at the negotiating
table, and what actually occurs on the ground.
Words must be reinforced by actions. The
responsibility for maintaining peace must
be carried by every individual.
As Minister
Peiris said, “there needs to be as
much activity surrounding the process as
in the process.” As we gather here
to remember the far too many lives lost
during this conflict and the suffering that
has been inflicted on all people - especially
children - we are honouring this responsibility.
I look forward
to celebrating the two-year anniversary
with you next year.
Thank you.
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