United Tamil Council of Canada (UTCC) cocktail reception to raise funds in support of Tamil children affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka on June 25, 2009 was a massive success. For the first time in the Tamil community an event was attended by many politicians and leaders of diverse communities. “We are very happy with the support we have received from the Canadian public to help Tamil children in Sri Lanka” says Dr. Pon Sivaji, chair of the fundraiser.
Kula Sellathurai, president of UTCC added “The project will be executed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), recommended by the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka. This is a zero overheads event, with 100% of the funds donated going directly to the project with full public accountability and transparency”
Over 220 invited guests attended the event at Holiday Inn, Markham including several leaders from diverse communities. “This is the first time so many non Tamils have attended a Tamil community event. UTCC is a new beginning for Tamils in Canada” said Kanimozhi an attendee at the reception. Some of the key guests at the event were Hershel Ezrin CEO of Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA), Len Rudner, Director- Canadian Jewish Congress, Ramesh Chotai, Chair- Canada India Foundation, Asha Lutha, president Indo- Canada Chamber of Commerce, Dr.Doobey, president of Vishnu Mandir, Ajit Khanna, chair-Panorama India. Others included leaders from Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Pakistani and Indo- Canadian communities.
“We had about 550 members before the event and will add another 100 members from the event. Our membership is very diverse with Sri Lankan, Indian, Malaysian, Burma, South African, Singapore Tamils all coming together under the UTCC banner. This is a new concept in Canada and we want to keep UTCC a truly United Tamils group” says Surya Navaratnam, VP of Membership at UTCC.
The event also had many political luminaries attending a Tamil event after a long time Some of the MPP’s were Gerry Phillips, Margaret Best, Amrti Mangat (Liberals) and Michael Prue (NDP). MP’s were Maria Minna, John McCallum, Andrew Kania, John McKay, Derek Lee, Yasmin Ratansi and Michelle Simpson. Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the opposition sent his greetings to UTCC for the event as he was in Vancouver and unable to attend. No Conservative MP was present at the event, even though the organizers had invited many of them.
At the event, UTCC briefly talked about future projects including a MoU with Government of Tamilnadu funded Tamil Virtual university to help children in Canada learn Tamil, joint events with Indian, Jewish and other communities, programs to help Canadian Tamils on immigration, mentoring, social housing, arts, education and few other areas. UTCC also elaborated on upcoming meetings with dignitaries from India, Israel, US and UN and a visit to India to meet Government of India and Tamilnadu to discuss the situation of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
UTCC is a non profit, non partisan organization that strives to unite and be inclusive of Canadian Tamils of all background and represent them in the broader community and to work towards the socio, economic and political empowerment of Canadian Tamils and represent their aspirations from a Canadian perspective on domestic and global issues. Its board consists of diverse Canadian Tamils from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Burma striving to represent all Tamils in Canada.
Should you require further details on UTCC, please feel free to contact Mr. Vijay Sappani, V.P. Media and Public Relations at 416-716-1522 or vijay@unitedtamils.org
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