Sent: Monday, 7 November 2011, 15:22

Dear Canadian Tamil Congress Members and Friends,

We would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank you for your generous support of the Canadian Tamil Congress this past year. Your contributions have strengthened the voice of Tamil Canadians on the municipal, provincial, federal and international levels and have been vital in taking the plight of Tamil civilians to politicians and the larger Canadian public. As such, we would like to invite you to attend our Annual CTC Dinner. This is the only fundraising dinner for CTC this year and we strongly urge you, your family and friends to purchase tickets and attend to support the work we do for the community.

We encourage your participation at the annual dinner so we can continue to strengthen the voice of Tamil Canadians in Canada and internationally. Please read below to see a snapshot of CTC’s achievements in the past two years.The evening program features Tamil Canadian arts, concerns, culture and achievements and highlights our traditional Thai Pongal theme. This event is an opportunity to meet many other enthusiastic community members and organizations while supporting the importance of recognizing Tamil Canadian initiatives and success across Canada.

Location: Grand Baccus Banquet Hall & Conference Centre

2155 McNicoll Ave. Scarborough, Ontario M1V 5P1

Date: Saturday, January 21, 2012

Time: Reception 5:30 pm Doors Open 6:30 pm

Ticket Price: $100 per plate, or

$1000 per table (each table consists of 10 plates)

If you have any questions or wish to purchase tickets, contact us at (416)240-0078. We strongly believe that your valued participation and support will help us achieve our goals.

Sincerely,

Canadian Tamil Congress

A Snapshot of CTC’s Accomplishments Within The Past 2 Years

CTC employees, Board of Directors and/or members actively meet or communicate with various bodies including but not limited to other national organizations, members and leaders of political parties, newspaper editors, news columnists, foreign ministry officials, UN officials, elected Tamil MPs with the idea of bringing peace and justice to Tamils in Sri Lanka and recently to ensure that an independent probe is conducted by an International organization to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In order to have our voices heard, we need to first establish ourselves within the Canadian mosaic. The events listed below are merely a snapshot of the many projects and events that are collectively aimed at building a better image of Tamil Canadians so that our voices can and will be heard in the future.

CTC files action against Dr. Rohan Gunaratna (June 2011).

Voicing for Human Rights: In June 2011, CTC was instrumental in organizing a press conference in the Canadian Parliament, together with NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Amnesty International to bring attention to the Channel 4 documentary and the UN Expert Panel’s recent report. CTC, in partnership with various mainstream organizations, advocated against the passing of Bill C-49. CTC assisted the newcomers onboard MV Sun Sea and was the main Tamil organization to provide factual information to the mainstream media and counteracted the negative publicity about the Tamils who arrived. Our members were also at the forefront when many Tamils protested against the GOSL onslaught in 2009. CTC was one of the three Tamil groups that was called to address the Foreign Affairs committee on Sri Lanka in 2009. All national newspapers in Canada have quoted CTC, as we work closely with them to bring awareness about our issues to the public.

Giving Back to Canada: As Tamil Canadians, giving back to our adopted country remains a priority, so that other Canadians will regard us as better citizens. After having organized walk-a-thons for two consecutive years in which we raised funds for SickKids Foundation ($45,000 in 2009) and Canadian Cancer Society ($35,000 in 2010), in the 2011 walk we raised $50,000 for Amnesty International. At the national level, CTC has taken part in fundraising for disaster relief, flood and earthquake relief.

Canadian Blood Services honoured CTC as the top community partner for Central Ontario in 2010 in recognition of Tamil Canadians’ outstanding contribution to Canada’s blood bank. In April 2011, over 100 CTC volunteers took part in the “10,000 Trees for the Rouge” campaign, and we were delighted to hear that the Federal Government has agreed to make Rouge Park Canada’s first national park within a Municipality.

Canadian Politics: Just before the recent Federal election, in collaboration with the Toronto Chapter of the Chinese Canadian National Council, CTC organized an all party debate. 13 candidates from all 4 parties attended the event of whom 3 went on to become MPs, including Rathika Sitsabaiesan.

Preserving Tradition & Language: Continuing with the past tradition, the annual CTC Thai Pongal Dinner was held in January 2011 and was attended by nearly 1000 people. Last year we had Mr. Jack Layton as the chief guest and this year we had Mr. Michael Ignatieff. CTC’s Montreal chapter held its inaugural dinner this year and CTC’s Edmonton chapter held its dinner early last year. CTC has been very active in promoting the Tamil community during the Taste of Asia Festival, Canada Day Parade and Pride Parade for many years. CTC has also been an active participant of Tamil Studies Conference in Toronto, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA) annual conventions, Global Tamil Forum (GTF) Conference and Ilankai Tamil Sangam USA annual event.

CTC Remembers: CTC has conducted annual Black July remembrance days and has assisted in “Tamil Awareness Day”. CTC held an all party multi-faith session in the Canadian Parliament entitled “Vanished Voices” to remember the tens of thousands of lives lost in Sri Lanka’s war. CTC has also initiated many petition campaigns in the past while being active participants in “Save the Doctor’s Campaign” and “No to Sri Lanka”. CTC also joined the remembrance for our good friend Jack Layton.

Here are some of the many activities that CTC undertook in 2010 with your support:

* Actively held several meetings with Canadian government officials, including several elected representatives from the Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Bloc Quebecois parties.

* Provided effective support for the refugees who came on the M.V Sun Sea to present their case. Worked with Politicians and National and International media to counter the negative propaganda about them. * Presented to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees resident representative in Ottwa about the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, and the sad plight of Tamil refugees who are based in South East Asian Nations and others who have been scattered around the world

* Received National award from Canadian Blood Services as the largest community blood donation group accross Canada.

* Undertook aggressive media outreach to inform the public about the plight of Tamils. CTC has appeared on CBC, CTV, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Globe and Mail, National Post, OMNI, CityTV, TVO and Al Jazeera.