Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa

A special discussion was held with the participation of heads of security forces and all other departments regarding the current security situation in the country, and during that meeting, the government has decided to take steps to tighten  security at all the religious places, tourists hotels, hospitals and embassies and provide security to all the catholic religious leaders and to important places of the government.

Furthermore,   the President has instrcuted the Inspector General of the Police to impose police curfew across the country. Similarly, a National Action Unit has been established to conduct investigtaion under the guidance of the Chief of the Defence Staff and to conduct search operations to arest the culprists.  Already instructions has been given to all the authorities of the hospitals to provide prompt treatment facilities to the victims.

At present, the process of body identification is being carried out and the judicial authorities are taking steps to conduct their postmortems promptly. The Government has decided to bear funeral expenses of all the deceased persons.

Currently, the security sections are conducting investigations in a broad manner on these incidents and the government has taken steps to temporarily block all the social media avenues until the investigations are concluded.

Steps have been taken to declare April 22 and 23 as holiday for all the government and private schools.

The government requests the public to ensure the peace while remaining in homes and to provide necessary assistance to security forces as the security has been tighten across the Island.

The tri-forces have been summoned to ensure the security of the public and the tri-forces will ensure the security of the people with the coordination of the Police Department.

Udaya R Senevirathne
Secretary to the President
2019-04-21

 Source :http://www.pmdnews.lk/

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Canada, M.A.K. Girihagama called on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Hon. Ted Arnott on 28^th March 2019 at the Legislative Building in Ontario. The High Commissioner briefed Hon. Arnott on recent developments in Sri Lanka and the long standing bilateral relations shared between Sri Lanka and Canada. He also referred to the on-going reconciliation process in Sri Lanka and development assistance provided by Canada in this regard. Speaker Arnott thanked the High Commissioner and assured him of Ontario’s engagement on issues of mutual interest. The High Commissioner and the Speaker also agreed to continue working towards further enhancing the bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and Ontario.

Following the meeting with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, the High Commissioner also held discussions with Rev. Pastor Marc Dissanayake and the Board of Trustees at the Christian Ministries International followed by a meeting with the President and Chief Priest Vijayakumar Kurukkal and the Board of Trustees of Varasiththy Vinayagar Hindu Temple.

Read more: Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Canada calls on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and meets with representatives of all religious faiths in Toronto

The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Toronto in co-ordination with the Buddhist temples in Toronto organized a series of events to mark the inscription of Tripitaka to be a World Heritage.

On Saturday, 16^th March 2019, the first event was organized at the West End Buddhist Temple & Meditation Centre in Mississauga. The programme commenced with the observance of the five precepts followed by the Buddha Pooja.  This was followed by two lectures which were conducted during the event on ‘Introduction to Tripitaka’ by Ven. Kusalagnana Thero and on ‘Thripitaka and Spiritual values of Sri Lankan Social Life’ by Dr. Sarath Chandrasekera of the University of Toronto.

Read more: Awareness Programmes for the inscription of Tripitaka to be a World Heritage

Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa operated the Sri Lanka booth at the Travel and Vacation Show which was sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism Development, Wildlife & Christian Religious Affair’s Sri Lanka.

The Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show which took place from March 30^th to 31^st, 2019 at Shaw Centre in Ottawa, attracted more than 17, 000 prospective travellers for the purpose of preparing their trips, discovering new destinations and seeking expert advice on their future holiday destinations. More than 45 countries were represented at this event through their tourism offices, tour operators and travel agents.

Read more: Sri Lanka at the Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa

The Committee on High Posts of the Parliament of Sri Lanka to examine the suitability of persons nominated/ appointed to the state services and the state corporations (High Posts Committee) on Wednesday 27 March approved the appointments of fourteen career diplomats nominated by President Maithripala Sirisena as Heads of Sri Lanka Missions overseas.

The fourteen senior officers, belonging to the Grade I of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service  (SLFS) who are to be appointed as Heads of Mission are as follows:

Mrs. K.D. Senewiratne, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York, Mr. Rodney M. Perera, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States of America, Mrs. Grace Asirwatham, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Belgium and the European Union, Mr. A.S. Nakandala, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ms. Y.K. Gunasekara, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia, Mrs. J.A.S.K. Jayasuriya, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand, Mrs. Pradeepa Saram, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Bahrain, Mrs. Shobini Gunasekera, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Philippines, Mrs. Saroja Sirisena, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mr. O.L. Ameerajwad, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Oman, Mr. M.J.P. Jayesinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Waruna Wilpatha, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Israel,Ms. Sashikala Premawardhane, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Singapore, and Mr. Rizvi Hassen, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Turkey.

With these appointments, the percentage of career diplomats heading Sri Lanka Missions overseas increased from 36.57% to 46%. Sri Lanka maintains 52 Embassies/High Commissions overseas.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo 

30 March 2019 

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Canada, M.A.K. Girihagama, handed over the Commission of Appointment issued by the Government and Sri Lanka and the Exequatur granted by Canada to Mr. Claude Gagnon, who was appointed as the Honorary Consul in Montréal for the province of Quebec, on 26^th March 2019 at the High Commission.

In his brief remarks, High Commissioner Girihagama underlined the important role played by the Honorary Consul and the need to foster deeper ties between Sri Lanka and Quebec. The High Commissioner also requested the Honorary Consul to guide Sri Lanka nationals and prospective visitors to Sri Lanka on consular matter while also encouraging stronger bilateral ties including the promotion of investment, tourism and trade between Sri Lanka and Quebec.

Honorary Consul Gagnon, who is the President, Operations of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Financial Group, a leader in the financial sector, was selected following a rigorous process in keeping with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka.

In addition to the appointment of Honorary Consul Gagnon, three new Honorary Consuls for   Sri Lanka were also appointed to Calgary in Alberta, Halifax in Nova Scotia and St. John in New Brunswick on 4^th March 2019. In addition, Sri Lanka also has an Honorary Consul in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sri Lanka High Commission

Ottawa

26^th March 2019