Canada has added the World Tamil Movement to its list of terrorist groups, the federal public safety minister announced Monday.
The organization is accused of facilitating or participating in a terrorist activity. Government officials say the group is a front organization for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Canada, otherwise known as the Tamil Tigers.
"Any group that is listed as a terrorist entity, they do have the right to challenge it and take that to a court and have it appealed," Stockwell Day said Monday on CTV's Mike Duffy Live.
"So I can tell you the evidence is significant, that these funds are going to the World Tamil Movement and funds are being channelled to terrorist activities."
At a press conference on Monday, Day said that the conservative government would not support an organization that appears to help finance terrorism.
"Innocent civilians in other countries have been killed by terrorist activities and those terrorist activities have been funded in part by dollars that come from Canada and we want to put a stop to that whenever we can and make sure it comes to an end," he said.
The WTM was formed to support Canada's Tamil community, says the public safety minister but adds the community needs to be shielded from this organization.
"I can tell you that we have accounts of people who let us know that they feel the pressure is very real and in some cases, in some particular areas of a neighbourhood, for instance, it's almost set up like a tax collection system where you automatically give and if you don't there could be repercussions," Day told Mike Duffy.
Funds collected by the WTM are transferred to Sri Lankan bank accounts operated by the Tamil Tigers.
Globe and Mail terrorism reporter Colin Freeze also appeared on Mike Duffy Live, and said that it is possible that Tamil Canadians have helped raise millions of dollars for the WTM. However, it is unclear if that money was donated willingly.
"There's a fairly active and ongoing debate about whether this fundraising amounts to extortion or whether it was voluntary," Freeze said.
"What is known, according to the RCMP evidence, is that the Tamils who went back to Sri Lanka who didn't kick in for the cause would find themselves known to the Tamil Tigers and they would try to extract money from them there."
Putting the organization on the list also prevents all Canadians, either living in the country or abroad, from knowingly dealing with assets owned or controlled by the WTM. The rule also applies to other Canadian organizations, including student groups, associated with the WTM.
The minister said it's not only money that the group was funneling to the Tamil Tigers but equipment and information as well.
John Thompson, a terrorism security expert, said that the WTM is well known in the Tamil community for supporting LTTE.
"They often say we're here to provide relief or support to the Tamil community but everyone knows who's behind them," he told Â鶹´«Ã½net.
Thompson said many Tamils are broadly sympathetic with the idea behind the Tigers, but that the group's tactics make it difficult for others to express a difference of opinion.
"As long as the WTM exists, people can't express themselves," said Thompson.
Day told reporters Monday afternoon the move only emphasizes the country's position on the conflict in Sri Lanka.
"We've been very clear we want to see a long-term and a durable solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka. We've been very clear to all people involved in the conflict, whether its government forces in Sri Lanka or the anti-government terrorist forces that it's our position to see human rights respected and to see long-term peace established."
